Many staff at Cavan General Hospital have “privately signalled their distress” at the hospital’s move to begin carrying out abortions, Cavan Senator Sarah O’Reilly has said.
The Aontú politician, who was elected to Seanad Éireann in January, raised the issue on Monday after Cavan became the last of the country’s 19 maternity hospitals to start providing full abortion services. Confirmation of a start date in Cavan was provided by new Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill last month.
Senator O’Reilly told Gript that, during a local meeting, a nurse at the hospital brought up the issue, saying she and many other colleagues had concerns about the provision of abortion, and around conscience rights.
A spokesperson for the Department for Health confirmed that as of March 31, 2025, all 19 maternity hospitals are now providing abortions.
A statement read: “Expanded services for termination of pregnancy under the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 (“2018 Act”) were introduced from 1 January 2019,” a spokesperson stated.
They further said that the Health Service Executive (HSE) have meanwhile advised that the recruitment for an “approved consultant post” in Cavan General Hospital is “in process.”
The number of abortions carried out in Ireland climbed to 10,033 last year – the highest annual number since the law was changed after the repeal of the eighth amendment. The annual cost of performing medical abortions through GPs and hospitals reached €7.4 million a year, figures from 2024 showed – including €5.6m in GP payments and medications with €1.7m spent on abortions in hospitals.
Speaking in the Seanad, Senator O’Reilly said: “Cavan Hospital, the last bastion of safety for the unborn, is now performing abortions. All 19 maternity hospitals in Ireland will end the lives of preborn babies. It is happening despite the many pro-life doctors, nurses and staff of the hospital who bravely stood by their belief in the hippocratic oath to exercise ethical conduct and the core principle, to do no harm to patients in their care, often putting their principles above their own career advancement and promotion possibilities.
“In the past weeks, many staff have privately signalled their distress at this development which involves the HSE bringing in new staff to carry out abortions. The then-government promised voters that abortion would be rare. Almost seven years on, it is far from rare with over 10,000 abortions each year.”
Senator O’Reilly told Gript that during a local meeting held to select her co-optee, a nurse at the hospital brought up the issue, and told the Senator that she and many other colleagues had concerns about the introduction of abortion, and the potential impact on conscientious rights.
The Senator also hit out at a lack of focus on what she called the “terrible consequences” of Ireland’s abortion regime – referring to misdiagnosis errors. Last week, it emerged that there are two more cases before Irish courts which allege that an unborn baby was wrongly diagnosed with a life-limiting abnormality leading to a decision to undergo abortion. The cases are currently ongoing with the State Claims Agency, parliamentary questions have revealed. In 2021, Irish couple Rebecca Price and Patrick Keily received damages after they aborted their baby upon being wrongly told that their unborn child had a life-limiting condition.
Senator O’Reilly continued: “When you consider that this quite literally is a life or death issue, it is deeply troubling how little interest those who push so hard for repeal have in talking about the massive increase in abortions. In addition, there have been misdiagnosis errors, potentially life-threatening complications, coerced abortion, women living with post-abortion regret and psychological burdens for hospital staff. It’s strange how there is no outrage from self-professed liberal progressives for these terrible consequences.”
She said that Doctors should not be “mere tools of the State to be forced to violate their conscience in any way”.
“This is a gross injustice to them, particularly in a democracy. I ask that the Minister for Health adopt a different approach; it is a scandal that all the focus is on making abortion more widely available rather than putting supports in place so that no woman feels pressured to go down the road of abortion. The right to life is the defining human rights issue of our time. That will continue to be the case regardless of what the law permits.”
Asked by Gript about the stance of abortion rights advocates, who have welcomed the move and are of the belief that the provision of abortions at Cavan Hospital is long overdue, Senator O’Reilly said: “There are plenty of people who represent that point of view, but there are not very many, in terms of TDs and Senators, who will represent the view of pro-life people. When pro-life people come to me, it’s my job to raise their concerns.
“There is a complete focus on abortion as a solution. Most abortions are carried our for socio-economic reasons; therefore I am urging the Minister for Health to come up with other options to help mothers keep their babies, including supports and financial help. In my speech, I highlighted the rise in abortions – when abortion was introduced, we had just over 4,000 abortions yearly.
“Now, we’re at over 10,000 a year and we are not batting an eyelid. That’s not what those who voted yes thought would happen. We need to put in place supports for mothers who want to keep their babies. Statistics show that 80 per cent of abortions are for socio-economic reasons; women are too poor to be able to afford to raise their children, so we need to look for supports. Progressives and liberals should be seeking these supports to be made available also.”