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The Dáil has tonight passed a Bill to abolish the mandatory three-day waiting period for abortion, a safeguard introduced in the 2018 Abortion Act.
The Sinn Féin Bill was voted through by 86 votes to 70, with no abstentions.
It will now be scrutinised before the Oireachtas health committee.
It comes barely a month after a Social Democrats Bill with the same objective was defeated by 85 votes to 30.
Sinn Féin had abstained in a vote on that Bill, with their own Bill introduced by health spokesperson David Cullinane this week.
Whilst Sinn Féin said last month that they could not support the Social Democrats Bill for operational reasons, they vowed to bring forward their own Bill to scrap the three-day wait.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris said they would vote for the proposal, with a free vote in place for Government TDs.
“The people did vote to repeal the 8th Amendment in 2018 and to provide free, safe and legal access to termination services,” said Mr Martin.
“I am aware of the arguments for and against the removal of the three-day waiting period. It is important we have a respectful debate in the house.
“I intend to vote for this to go through to committee stage. At committee stage there will be, perhaps, a need for consequential amendments.”
“The Tánaiste will support the Bill to remove the three-day waiting period,” said a spokesperson for Simon Harris, adding:“That is his personal view and is reflective of the engagement he has had with women and medical professionals.”
A number of Government TDs are understood to have voted against the Bill, including Children’s Minister Norma Foley.
Advocates have described the waiting period as a critical safeguard, with the Oireachtas recently hearing that 10,426 women from 2019 to 2024 had not returned for an abortion within the three-day decision period following an initial consultation.
“In truth, the three-day waiting period should never have been introduced. In fact, the original review of the legislation states very clearly that the three-day wait has to go,” said Mary-Lou McDonald prior to the vote. “This is a considered recommendation based on real experience and the real impact of the enforced wait on the lives of women. This wait has caused huge harm and trauma.”
Peadar Tóibín, a former Sinn Féin TD who left the party in 2018 to found Aontú, having been denied a conscience vote on abortion, hit out at the vote on Wednesday night.
“FF and FG’s leadership voted with SF to delete the last protection for unborn children,” he said.
However, he added: “The battle for compassion and humanity is not over. It still has to get through the remaining stages of the Dáil and Seanad.”
He previously told a debate on Tuesday that there had been 10,852 lives ended as a result of the abortion legislation last year alone – the highest number on record.
“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.
The TD said it was the case that the abortion rate is now so high that it is affecting the birth rate.
“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,” he 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,” the Meath TD added.
“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.”
Independent Ireland also voted against the Bill, along with a number of Independent TDs.
Its Cork TD Ken O’Flynn said on Wednesday night that the period existed to “give women time” to be sure and to be “free from pressure.”
“Removing it doesn’t give women more choice. It strips away a safeguard for the most vulnerable,” said Mr O’Flynn.
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