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TDs have hit out at Sinn Fein’s proposal to scrap the 3-day wait before abortion, accusing the party of ignoring evidence that the period of reflection reduces the number of abortions, and arguing that the abortion rate is currently so high that “it is affecting the birth rate.”
However, some Fine Gael TDs and Independents indicated that they will support the abortion proposal from Sinn Féin which will return to the chamber this evening.
But “several TDs” in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have reportedly said that they were unhappy that the Taoiseach and Tánaiste had said they would support the abortion measure moving to Committee stage saying both leaders had relied on the 3-day measure in the 2018 Repeal campaign.
One TD said the “majority” of people in Fianna Fáil think the Taoiseach “overstepped the mark”, the Irish Examiner reported.
In the Dáil last night Carol Nolan TD said that Sinn Féin’s “moral incoherence” is “truly staggering”, while Aontú leader, Peadar Tóibín said that there was “no desire for this change” from the electorate, adding the issue “is not being raised at the doors”.
Deputy Nolan said that “there are moments in this Chamber when the sheer disconnect between political rhetoric and the political reality becomes almost unbearable. If Sinn Féin truly wants to build a future worth having, it should start by protecting the children who are meant to inherit it because while Sinn Féin tours the country promoting its future of Ireland commission report, which is full of language about hope, opportunity and the next generation, the very same party is here assisting in the passage of laws that guarantee no future at all for thousands of Irish babies in the womb.”
“You cannot speak about building a shared future while simultaneously dismantling the last remaining safeguard that has already saved up to 10,000 lives and Sinn Féin knows this. The data is not mine; it is the HSE’s own data provided to me through parliamentary questions. That data shows that thousands of women do not return after the three-day period. That is proof – proof that the waiting period gives women time, space and the chance to reconsider under pressure, coercion or crisis,” she added.
“What is truly staggering is the moral incoherence of a party that claims to care about Ireland’s future while actively working to ensure that thousands of Irish children will never have one. Sinn Féin wants to talk about unity, about nationhood, about the Ireland of tomorrow but how can you speak about tomorrow when you refuse to protect the children who would live in it today?,” she said.
“How can you speak about sovereignty when you will not even defend the sovereignty of the most basic human right – the right to life?”
“The three-day period is one of the few remaining commitments that voters were told explicitly would be part of the 2018 framework and Sinn Féin’s attempt to erase it shows how out of touch they have become with the values of ordinary people. I have received hundreds of emails asking TDs to vote “No” from all around the country,” the Offaly Independent said.
Aontú leadar,Peadar Tóibín, said that Sinn Féin were amongst the political parties offering abortion instead of tackling the reasons for the collapse in the birth rate.
“Last year there were 10,852 abortions in Ireland. The lives of 10,852 living human beings were ended last year as a result of the legislation that was passed a number of years ago. It is the highest figure on record. It is equivalent to 400 classrooms of children who are no longer with us as a result of that abortion law. It is absolutely heartbreaking. In all the politicking we see in this Chamber today on this issue, there is absolutely no recognition of the human cost or of the human devastation of thousands of lives lost annually. In 2018 there were 2,879 abortions and since that law was deregulated the number has surged. It has tripled in just seven years and yet there is no effort by the political establishment to understand why there is such a surge. There is no effort to ameliorate this awful human cost,” he said.
“So high is the abortion rate today that it is affecting the birth rate. It is not the only reason the birth rate is falling; the cost-of-living crisis, the housing crisis and the cost of childcare are all pushing down the birth rate, but you cannot have 10,852 abortions annually without impacting on the birth rate of a country. In 2009, there were 77,000 children born in Ireland; 54,000 were born in 2024. That is a startling collapse in the birth rate,” the Aontú leader said.
“The really shocking thing is that the lack of housing, the cost of living and the cost of childcare are not more to the fore in Sinn Féin’s approach to this Dáil. Dozens of women gave birth last year while homeless. Thousands of couples are postponing having children or not having children at all, not because they do not want a family but because the policies of the Government make it so difficult for them to have one. What is the response of the political establishment? Three separate abortion Bills this year and it is only June.”
And he slammed those pushing the removal of the 3-day wait before abortion for failing to speak to women who had changed their mind during the period:
“When the abortion review was discussed at the health committee, I asked the chair of the review a direct and important question: before recommending abolishing the three-day wait, had she spoken to one woman who went to the first abortion appointment, took three days to reflect, changed her mind and kept her baby? She admitted on the record of the committee she did not speak to one woman who availed of a three-day wait – an incredible admission,” he told the Dáil.
“The Government report recommended a change in the law to get rid of the last remaining protection and nobody who authored that report sought to speak to one mother who availed of that reflection period. No author of the report took the time to speak to one of the thousands of children alive today and ask their view of the reflection period. There are thousands of children alive, some sitting around family tables, some playing in their gardens or simply laughing to cartoons on television, as a result of this law, yet it is Sinn Féin’s objective to get rid of it. It is an incredible situation. Have members of the Sinn Féin front bench spoken to any of these mothers or children?” he asked.
However, Fine Gael’s Neale Richmond said that he would be supporting the measure – as did his party colleague James Geoghegan.
Deputy Richmond said that the Health Minister “Deputy Carroll MacNeill has stated she will also support this legislation, as will the Taoiseach and Tánaiste. The decision taken by any other Member on the Government benches, whether they are a ministerial officeholder or other, is for them. I have laid out my very clear opinion, which I think can be respected by the Chamber, and we can continue this debate.”
“If it is to be passed tomorrow night, and I sincerely hope it is passed by a majority in this Chamber, we can progress a legislative debate in the manner we have been able to achieve – a debate, I believe, on the most sensitive of topics on this island, carried out in a way that does not drag in unnecessary comparisons and which does not provide a campaigning platform for attack and negativity.”
Speaking against the proposal, Kerry TD, Michael Healy Rae, said that “Safe, legal and rare” was the line in 2018. HSE data shows that between 2019 and 2024, 10,426 women who attended an abortion appointment did not return after the three-day cooling-off and waiting period. That proves that those ladies took time to reflect and made a different decision to what they might have made if they did not have the cooling-off period. The waiting period was presented as an important safeguard within the legislation.”
“There are close to 11,000 abortions taking place in Ireland every year. Over 60,000 abortions have happened since the law changed in 2019. Abortion now ends the lives of one in every six babies in Ireland. This, in my opinion, is a national tragedy.”
“I respect that people hold different views on abortion and they are perfectly entitled to their views but the question is whether politicians should now remove safeguards that formed part of the framework presented to the public in the first instance. I believe that what is happening now is blatantly wrong,” he said.
His brother and fellow TD, Danny Healy-Rae, said “I am glad to get the opportunity to talk on this. I cannot support Sinn Féin’s Bill nor did I support the Social Democrats a week or so ago. It is my firm belief that the birth of a child is a wonder. It is better than anything. The child is entitled to the right to life, like we got a chance at it.”
“On this three-day wait, it surely is not much to have to wait when the birth of a child is at stake – a human being who has a right, once they are conceived, to be born and to live. Three days more cannot be that much and it could save the life of the child, and it has done so. A girl or a woman should get a few more hours to reflect on it and to look at options other than destroying the life of a little baby, a boy or a girl. No one knows or could imagine how much they would contribute to the world and to their families and the difference they could make. Too often, I see couples who fail to have children. Would it not be nice if they could adopt a child if the mother does not want to hold onto it?”
“I cannot vote for this Bill. I could never consider doing so,” he said.
Supporting the measure, Sinn Féin’s David Cullinane said: “This is a straightforward and targeted Bill. It does just one thing. It proposes to remove the mandatory three-day wait for access to an abortion during early pregnancy. It does this by deleting section 12(3) and by amending section 12(4) to remove the requirement for three days to have elapsed before a termination can be carried out. It does not require an abortion to happen on the day of a first consultation but when a woman is certain that this is what she wants, it allows her to make that decision for herself in her own time about her own pregnancy without a mandatory delay.”
“I am open to working across the House on an amendment to clarify this further in the Bill, and I hope to do so. I understand there may be a number of technical amendments needed by Government if and when this Bill goes to Committee Stage.”
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