All local government and opposition TDs voted in favour of removing the mandatory three-day wait for abortion services this week.
Prior to the Dublin Central by-election, a similar motion by the Social Democrats was voted down despite the government parties allowing a free vote on the issue.
Last week’s motion, put forward by Sinn Féin, was slightly different to the one put forward by the Soc Dems in May; at the time, Sinn Féin’s health spokesperson David Culinane, had issues with what constituted a “fatal foetal abnormality” and did not agree with the Soc Dems wanting to decriminalise the practice.
On that occasion, Sinn Féin abstained on that particular motion, a decision which analysts now say was a factor in the party losing to the Social Democrats in the Dublin Central by-election, with socially progressive voters being switched off by Sinn Féin.
Speaking at the time, Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger remarked that Sinn Féin’s decision to abstain was a part of a “drift to the right” by Sinn Féin on social issues, but welcomed the party having a relative change of heart on the issue.
The revised Sinn Féin motion passed by 86 to 70 votes on Wednesday evening (June 17), thanks to support from government party TDs.
By comparison, when the same issue was voted upon in May, the motion was defeated by 85 votes to 30.
Prior to the vote, Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris announced their support for the bill, but said it would be a free vote and government party TDs could vote as they please.
In the context of Dublin West, all five TDs (Jack Chambers, Ruth Coppinger, Emer Currie, Paul Donnelly and Roderic O’Gorman) voted yes.
Chambers’ vote in favour was noted by observers; Chambers was among the Fianna Fáil TDs to call for a “No” vote in the 2018 Repeal referendum, but has since changed his stance on the issue.
Currie’s vote was also of note; since being elected to the Dáil in November 2024, Currie has etched out a profile of
Elsewhere on the Northside, Dublin North-West TD Paul McAuliffe was among the Fianna Fáil TDs to vote yes, alongside opposition TDs Rory Hearne of the Soc Dems and Sinn Féin’s Dessie Ellis.
All four Dublin Central TDs (Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, Labour TD and health spokesperson Marie Sherlock and Soc Dem TDs Daniel Ennis and Gary Gannon) also voted in favour of the bill.
Elsewhere on the Northside, Dublin Bay North TDs Cian O’Callaghan and Barry Heneghan voted in favour of the bill, whereas Tom Brabazon and Naoise Ó Muirí did not.
In Dublin Fingal West, all three TDs (Grace Boland, Louise O’Reilly and Robeert O’Donoghue) voted in favour, while in Dublin Fingal East all three TDs also voted in favour (Darragh O’Brien, Ann Graves and Duncan Smith).
Green TD and leader Roderic O’Gorman, who voted in favour of the original Social Democrats motion in May, said that while the Sinn Féin bill was watered down, he noted that “perfection is the enemy of good” in this context.
“While this Bill is more narrow in its scope than I would prefer, it is important not to let perfection be the enemy of good and to recognise the removal of the three-day wait is in itself a positive step,” he told the Dáil.
“We have the opportunity now to continue the work begun in 2018 and to remove a condescending and paternalistic approach to an already difficult decision that many women in Ireland have to make,” he said.
Hayes “angry and furious” at Fine Gael and Sinn Féin over abortion vote
Labour health spokesperson Marie Sherlock said that while the vote did pass, reform of Ireland’s reproductive system couldn’t wait.
“The reality is that there are women out there looking on who have either recently found themselves in this circumstance or may over the coming months. We have had hours of debate in this House but very little progress,” she noted.
“Even if this Bill does pass this evening, there is now an onus on the government to expedite the legislation to ensure that we get rid of the three-day wait.”
Sinn Féin TD Paul Donnelly welcomed the passage of the bill.
Addressing criticism of the bill, Donnelly said “this does not prevent women from taking time to think about their options, this does not force any woman to do anything other than have the option to move forward when they feel it’s right for them.”
“The three-day wait forces all women to wait, when they feel it is the right thing for them; that’s not fair,” he wrote on Facebook.
Conservative reaction to the bill was swift.
Local Aontú councillor Ellen Troy remarked that Sinn Féin’s bill was them attempting to “play both sides of the fence” after it got “trounced” in the Dublin Central by-election.
The Castleknock councillor claimed that Sinn Féin “stands for so little these days and has truly left behind so many of its former supporters.”
Aontú, formed in response to Sinn Féin backing the 2018 referendum, has attempted to bring American conservative talking points into Irish politics and has attempted to woo socially conservative Sinn Féin voters into its ranks.
In her statement, Troy claimed that Sinn Féin were attempting to cosy up to the “liberal left” – in political science, “liberal” and “left” are two wholly different ideologies, whereas in American political discourse, the terms are interchangeable.
“I am sure that people the length and breadth of Ireland are shaking their heads and wondering just how far Sinn Féin will go as it continues its relentless drive towards so called ‘progress’”, she said.