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Chapter 1: What is the significance of the Dáil's vote to remove the three-day wait for abortion?
And the Dáil has voted in favour of removing the three-day mandatory wait for an abortion.
Currently, there is a three-day waiting period between GP consultations and a termination up to 12 weeks. Now, this bill is expected to go before the Health Committee for further scrutiny. Let's get more on what happened last night from political correspondent at the Irish Times, Ellen Coyne.
And we'll talk about what might happen from here with consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist and clinical lead for termination of pregnancy with the HSE, Dr. Aoife Mullally. But Ellen, to you first. Good morning and thanks for being with us. Will you talk us through what happened last night? Because there was a free vote, wasn't there, in government ranks on this one?
Yes, that's right. So because this issue relates to the issue of abortion, there's a free vote available to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs to vote in line with their conscience rather than a party position.
Now, we knew going into this that Simon Harris, Micheál Martin and Minister for Health, Jennifer Carl McNeill, had all indicated that they would be in favour of dropping the mandatory three-day wait for abortion. The vote passed by 86 votes to 70, but I suppose what's interesting and significant is
Even allowing for that free vote is that you had a lot of senior members of the cabinet going against the bill. Jim O'Callaghan, James Brown, Martin Hayden, Norma Foley, Derek Leary and Peter Burke. And while the party leadership was in favour of the bill, they were not in line with their TDs. 30 Fianna Fáil TDs voted against it compared to 12 who supported it.
There was a similar position in Fine Gael as well, where 26 voted against it and only 11 supported it.
OK, so, I mean, you can look at that in one of two ways. You know, there's a bit of a split between the leadership and the members, or there is a healthy situation within both of those parties where they feel they have the freedom to vote against the leader.
Exactly. Like, I wouldn't over-interpret it too much because it is a free vote. So this wouldn't be like an act of defiance against Simon Harris or Micheál Martin. But I suppose as this bill makes its way through the Oireachtas, the first question is, will it actually pass? Like, will the position be the same with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael senators who we don't really know yet?
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Chapter 2: What were the political dynamics surrounding the vote on the abortion bill?
Would they be more in line with the leadership or more in line with the rest of the parliamentary party? And the debate, I imagine, will be who is more in line with the public on this. You know, the argument up until now, which had been made by people like Simon Harris, was that this three-day wait was part of the deal the government made with the public in 2018.
They showed us the law first and they said, this will be our abortion law if you vote repeal. So removing anything from that law should be like a very serious matter. On the other hand, there is a lot of evidence, including from a 2023 independent report, that the three day waiting period is blocking some women from accessing abortion services at all. It's pushing them beyond the 12 week limit.
It's forcing some women to travel. And I know this has probably been lost in the years in between, but the three-day waiting period was the only part of that abortion law that was a completely political invention. Every other part of it came from a citizens' assembly or a joint Oireachtas committee.
The first time we heard of a three-day wait was when it was proposed by the then-tawnish Simon Coveney who was nervous about supporting repeal and announced in a newspaper opinion piece that there would be this new pause period or compulsory time of reflection between asking for an abortion and getting one.
OK, so now this goes to committee stage and what is likely to happen there? Obviously, further scrutiny, but will it move ahead from there and what will the timeline be?
Well, I think what would be interesting to see would be how and in what way would the government seek to amend this? So would they try to make it, would they try to keep the waiting period and have something where it's optional to waive it?
Maybe it would be something that a doctor could waive in specific circumstances, maybe when you're dealing with a domestic abuse victim, someone who is rural or marginalised or finds the three-day wait difficult. You know, in what way is the government going to present this?
If it does progress and everything goes smoothly, there is the possibility that this could become law by the end of this year. So by January 2027, women would be able to access abortion up to 12 weeks in this country without having a mandatory three-day waiting period.
OK, Ellen, thank you very much for bringing us that. As I said, Dr Aoife Mullally is with us, Clinical Lead for Termination of Pregnancy with the HSE. Good morning to you. Good morning, Clare. Thanks for being with us this morning. How will this change affect termination services in Ireland in your view?
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