Legislation to remove the mandatory three-day wait for abortion in early pregnancy looks set to pass second stage in the Dáil tonight after the Taoiseach and Tánaiste confirmed their support for the Opposition proposal.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill is also backing the Health (Abolition of Three Day Wait Rule) (Amendment) Bill introduced last month by Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane. Her spokeswoman said “she sees merit in abolishing the requirement and has engaged extensively with stakeholders”.
Government TDs have a free vote on issues of conscience and Micheál Martin yesterday told the Dáil: “I intend to vote for this to go through to committee stage”.
He said Carroll MacNeill may introduce amendments at committee stage, which he stressed would strengthen “the intent” of the legislation.
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A spokesman for Tánaiste Simon Harris confirmed the proposal had the Fine Gael leader’s support. “That is his personal view and is reflective of the engagement he has had with women and medical professionals,” the spokesman said.
Martin said he recognised this as a “very sensitive issue”.
“There are a range of opinions and perspectives within this House and indeed among the public,” he said, adding that a lot of progress had been made since the 2018 referendum vote to repeal the Eighth Amendment.
The Taoiseach said he was “aware of the arguments for and against the removal” of the waiting period.
During a Dáil debate last night, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald welcomed Government and Opposition support for the legislation.
“I think it’s so important that we work together to make this really essential change and that we all do the right thing by women,” she said.
Sinn Féin TD Louise O’Reilly described the three-day wait as a “political construct”.
In 2018, when abortion legislation was introduced, then-tánaiste Simon Coveney expressed concern that there might not be government support for allowing abortion up to 12 weeks. To assure him of safeguards in the law, Harris, then the minister for health, introduced the mandatory waiting period.
Harris and Martin supported the three-day wait in following years. In 2024, though, Harris said the then-government would consider the findings of a 2023 review of Irish abortion law, which recommended removing the pause.
Social Democrats health spokesman Pádraig Rice confirmed his party’s support for the Bill, as did Labour’s health spokeswoman Marie Sherlock.
A Social Democrats abortion Bill was rejected last month as it also included provisions on fatal foetal abnormalities and ending the criminalisation of doctors who can face jail terms of up to 14 years.
The support of the Social Democrats and Labour, as well as that of Solidarity-People Before Profit, the Green Party, some Independents and the free vote for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs is likely to ensure the legislation reaches the 87 votes needed to pass to the next stage.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín, Independent Ireland, Independents Michael and Danny Healy-Rae and Carol Nolan are among those opposing the legislation.
Tóibín claimed Sinn Féin was “flip-flopping on a number of core values” and the Bill was about “political competition”.
