The Abortion Bill has passed all stages of the Oireachtas.
27 senators voted in favour of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018 and five against.
“We welcome the passage of this bill, and fully appreciate the importance of its enactment by year’s end so that abortion services can begin in January,” said Colm O Gorman, Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland.
“Women have waited 35 years for this, the daily violations of their human rights must come to an end. However, we and the government want to avoid a situation where the law prevents pregnant people from accessing the healthcare they need, or delaying their care. We don’t want women continuing to travel or accessing illegal abortion pills online. That is not what people voted for on 25 May.
“We know from exit polls following the vote in May that 62% of people voted yes because they agreed with a women’s right to choose and 55% voted because they viewed access to abortion as a women’s health issue. The new abortion legislation will ensure that most women will be able to access services in Ireland and this is a major step forward.
“But as the law is currently drafted, we have some serious concerns that barriers to women accessing timely care remain. And there are some significant flaws. These include the potentially high and ambiguous threshold created by the language on ‘serious harm’ to a women’s health, the lack of provision of access in cases of pregnancies with severe rather than fatal foetal impairments, the mandatory waiting periods, and the continued criminalisation of health professionals.”
