Irish parliament votes to remove three-day abortion wait

Waiting period before receiving medication was included in draft law to gain support for abortion ban in 2018 referendum

Ireland’s parliament has voted to remove a mandatory three-day wait for abortion during early pregnancy after campaigners said the rule was an unnecessary restriction.

The Dáil passed the bill on Wednesday night, clearing a path for the legislation to go to a parliamentary committee and become law later this, or next, year.

Supporters said it was one of the most significant changes to women’s healthcare since voters ended a constitutional ban on abortion in a 2018 referendum. Opponents said it overturned a safeguard endorsed in the referendum.

Mary Lou McDonald, the leader of Sinn Féin, which sponsored the bill, said: “Women, healthcare providers and campaigners have long called for this unnecessary barrier to be removed.”

Under the current rule there is a compulsory three-day waiting period between when a woman can seek an abortion up to 12 weeks and obtain the necessary medication. It was inserted into draft legislation before the 2018 referendum to clinch support from voters who were unsure about legalising abortion.

The bill passed with 86 deputies in favour and 70 against. The ruling centrist coalition of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael gave its Dáil deputies a free vote as a matter of conscience.

Most deputies from both parties voted against but a handful of cabinet ministers, including the taoiseach, Micheál Martin, and the tánaiste, Simon Harris, joined other party colleagues in backing the Sinn Féin proposal, which was supported by other leftwing opposition parties.

“You don’t have to think abortion is a good or desirable thing to believe that it is a matter for each individual to make the decision if it is the right thing for them,” said Barry Ward, a Fine Gael deputy who backed the bill. “We have to presume that women will think long and carefully about such an important decision and the presence of a mandatory three-day waiting period assumes the opposite.”

A review of the legislation in 2022 by a barrister, Marie O’Shea, recommended removing the three-day rule and relaxing other restrictions.

Supporters of the three-day rule said it was endorsed in the referendum and gave women an opportunity to reflect on an important decision. They cited official figures that between 2019 and 2024 approximately 10,400 women did not return for a second abortion consultation after the waiting period.

Robert Troy, a Fianna Fáil junior minister, said some voters had backed abortion legalisation on the basis of certain “protections and safeguards”, including the three-day wait. “It doesn’t do politics any justice to row back a short time later and try and change things.”

Peadar Tóibín , the leader of the Aontú party, said there was no public appetite to remove the wait period. “Many people who voted for repeal are angry.”