Fine Gael TD compares three-day abortion wait to duration of hangover during committee debate

A Government TD compared the length of time a woman would have to wait for an abortion to the duration of a hangover during a debate on plans to scrap the mandatory three-day wait. Fine Gael TD Peter Roche was one of a number of Coalition TDs who spoke against a proposal to lift the waiting period, which is compulsory for all terminations up to 12 weeks’ gestation. The Irish College for General Practitioners (ICGP), which told the Oireachtas health committee that there was no international evidence to support the wait, was also criticised by Government TDs for not representing the views of GPs who wanted to keep the three-day wait. The Health (Abolition of Three Day Wait Rule) (Amendment) Bill was introduced by Sinn Féin in May. Government TDs were given a free vote on the Bill, which passed the second stage of the Dáil in June with the support of the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. A majority of both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs voted against the Bill, including Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan, Minister for Housing James Browne, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon, Minister for Children Norma Foley, Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary and Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke. READ MOREIn 2018, the then Fine Gael led Government included a mandatory three day waiting period in the landmark abortion law that followed the public voting to repeal the Eighth Amendment and lift Ireland’s constitutional ban on abortion. It meant that a woman had to wait 72 hours between requesting an abortion under 12 weeks at a first appointment and accessing one at a second appointment. A 2023 review of the law, authored by barrister Marie O’Shea, said that the three-day wait was denying some women access to legal terminations by forcing them beyond the legal limit. The ICGP told the health committee on Wednesday that the three-day wait “can impact a woman’s care in several ways”, including pushing them into needing hospital rather than community care for an abortion or pushing them beyond the legal limit entirely. Dr Ciara McCarthy, clinical lead for women’s health at the ICGP, said that “international evidence would not support the use of mandatory waiting periods”. Dr McCarthy said the ICGP recognised the importance of a “reflection period” for women, which may be longer than three days. “But I think that should be individualised and it shouldn’t be mandated in law.”[ What would scrapping the three-day wait for abortion mean for pregnant women?Opens in new window ]Peter Roche, the Fine Gael TD for Galway East, told the committee he did not previously support the Bill removing the three-day wait and “I will never support the Bill”. Roche cited figures which show that there were over 10,000 more first appointments than second appointments for abortion services between 2019 and 2024, and said it was “fair to assume” that this meant there were thousands of children under the age of seven now “happily attending national school, fulfilling the lives of mothers and families” as a consequence of their mothers not returning for a second appointment. Roche said he believed scrapping the three-day wait would be “a profound betrayal of the general public that took to the polling stations [in 2018] to make a decision to protect the life of the unborn”. “We’re not talking about three months, we’re not talking about three weeks, we are talking about three days. Many is the one went to bed with a hangover for three days, we are talking about the life of a foetus,” he said. In response, Labour TD Marie Sherlock said that “anybody who has gone through an abortion, a termination, or any woman or person out there who feels strongly about this issue, would be deeply hurt by comments about a three-day hangover or other phrases like that”.Colm Burke, another Fine Gael TD, said he had spoken to a number of GPs who believed that the three-day wait “should be kept in place” and that it was “helpful to the patients to have that three-day time period”. Burke said some doctors had “a different view” from what the ICGP was presenting to the committee. He was critical of the representative body for not carrying out a survey of its members to establish their views. [ Bill to end mandatory three-day wait for abortion access set to pass second stage in DáilOpens in new window ]Pádraig O’Sullivan, the Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North-Central, also criticised the ICGP for not consulting with its membership and questioned if it was “reflective” of what doctors think. Michael Cahill, the Fianna Fáil TD for Kerry, said there needed to be a “balanced debate” on this issue. David Cullinane, the Sinn Féin spokesman on health who brought forward the bill, defended the ICGP and said that the organisation had appeared before the committee to “present evidence, not based on consulting every single GP”. “I just don’t believe it’s acceptable that anybody would undermine the integrity of people who come here in good faith to present evidence, in my view which is not biased,” he said.Martin Daly, a Fianna Fáil TD and a GP, also defended the ICGP and said it was “regrettable that there was an attempt to politicise this”. He said he had personal experience of women who had taken “many days and weeks” to reflect before making a decision to end a pregnancy.