Taoiseach says ‘careful consideration’ must be given to review of abortion laws

By Cate McCurry, PA

“Careful consideration” must be given to any proposals to change Ireland’s abortion laws, the Taoiseach has said.

Simon Harris said an independent review of the current laws needed to be treated with the “same sensitivity” that was given ahead of the Eighth Amendment referendum in 2018.

He made the comments ahead of a documentary on RTÉ which will reveal that almost 1,000 people in Ireland contacted a UK abortion charity about accessing services abroad since the referendum passed.

Senior barrister Marie O’Shea, who authored the review of Ireland’s abortion law, called on Government to prioritise ongoing issues with the legislation, saying vulnerable women who continue to be forced abroad for terminations are being treated like “criminals”.

Ms O’Shea criticised a lack of action on many of the legislative recommendations contained in the report which was delivered to Government early last year.

A review of the legislation was required after three years.

As part of her report, Ms O’Shea recommended the removal of a mandatory three-day waiting period between a woman’s initial medical consultation and her being given access to abortion treatment or medication.

Mr Harris said he wanted to “respect” the diversity of views and “bring forth consensus”.

“In relation to the review of abortion services, of course, I have personal views, but personally I’m here as Taoiseach of a country 5.3 million people and I want to await to the views of the Minister for Health and his departments when they come forward to Cabinet.

“We’ve taken a number of very significant steps in Ireland, the Irish people have over the last number of years, a constitutional referendum, legislation, the rollout of services, and measures in relation to free contraception.

“A number of steps that were taken have been based on the cross-party committee on abortion.

“I think we need to approach this issue with the same sensitivity now that we did then.

“I do want to, with the the time available to me before the next general election, to make progress on a number of areas.”

He said that the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly is considering the review and will bring forward proposals.

“In my new role as Taoiseach, I don’t intend to wade straight in, I intend to wait and to engage with the minister and engage with Cabinet colleagues,” he added.

“Of course, we also put in a review clause for this very reason so that people will continue to check their services is working as planned and are things going as was intended.

“I do think they need to be given consideration, but that is the balance.

“The Irish people were given assurances that they voted for this, and there’s obviously there’s a review alongside that.

“So I think this requires careful consideration.”