Labour TD Marie Sherlock has said that the government are “backsliding” on abortion access.
The Labour health spokesperson has accused Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael of putting abortion rights on the back burner, despite voting earlier this year to lift the three-day mandatory wait.
The Dublin Central TD said that the removal of the three-day waiting period is “now in real jeopardy,” following a meeting of the Dáil’s health committee.
“This hearing exposed a deeply concerning level of government backsliding on abortion access. The Dáil has already voted to remove the mandatory three-day wait, yet Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael now appear prepared to block that change at Committee,” she said.
“The Minister for Health must immediately clarify whether the government still supports this reform,” Sherlock said.
Sherlock said that comments from Fine Gael TD Peter Roche, which compared the three-day waiting period to a “three-day hangover” were “deeply hurtful.”
She said that such language “displays an appalling ignorance” of people who are seeking access to reproductive healthcare, and “trivialises” it.
She said that the Galway East TD’s comments will cause “real hurt to those who have had an abortion and to everyone who cares deeply about access to compassionate reproductive healthcare.”
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Sherlock said that members of the Irish College of General Practitioners presented evidence to the Committee in “good faith”, but government TDs and Senators tried to “undermine” them.
“They (members of the Irish College of General Practitioners) spoke on behalf of their professional body and answered questions openly and honestly; attempts by Government TDs and Senators to undermine the bona fides of the ICGP because its evidence did not suit their political position were totally unacceptable,” she said.
The Labour health spokesperson said, “the evidence presented at the committee was clear; there is no clinical basis for forcing every patient to wait three days after consulting a doctor before accessing abortion care.”
“The O’Shea Review recommended replacing the mandatory delay with a statutory right to an optional reflection period. More than three years later, the government has failed to implement that recommendation,” she said.
Sherlock warned that blocking the reform would “overturn the will of the Dáil and represent a serious retreat from the government’s commitments on abortion access.”
“It would leave a medically unnecessary barrier in place despite the evidence presented by GPs and the clear recommendation of the independent review,” she said.
“The Minister for Health can no longer remain silent. She must confirm that Government supports removing the mandatory three-day wait and that government representatives will not block this reform at Committee. Patients deserve healthcare based on evidence, compassion and respect, not political manoeuvring and medically unnecessary delays,” the Dublin Central TD said.