I thank my colleague, an Teachta Cullinane, for bringing forward this legislation. I look back on the speeches given on the day the post-repeal legislation was introduced here in the Dáil. The three-day wait was opposed by Sinn Féin, the Labour Party and People Before Profit, PBP. I have to say that we were right to oppose it. I am glad to say that other parties that did not take the opportunity that night have come to the same conclusion. The three-day wait is nothing more than a political construct. It was not recommended by the citizens' assembly, and anyone who watched the proceedings, as I did, knows the assembly was very comprehensive in its deliberations. It was not recommended by the eighth amendment committee, of which I was a member. In all of our hours and hours of discussion over many months, we never recommended a three-day wait. It was inserted by Fine Gael, and I hope that I will see many Fine Gaelers in here tomorrow voting in the right way this time to get it gone. I would like, as I generally do when I discuss abortion healthcare, to recall those many people who campaigned for access over so many decades. These include people like my parents, who campaigned against the insertion of the eighth amendment, and Ailbhe Smyth, who, as we know, was a tireless campaigner for women's rights. I also recall those women who were the victims of regressive laws and denied access to care. These were women like Sheila Hodgers, who was a very good friend of my mother's, Ann Lovett and Savita Halappanavar, and there are many more whom I do not have time to list this evening. My activism on abortion rights did not start with repeal, and I am not naive enough to believe that it will end with one debate or one law, because I know this is a fight that we must continue. I was a small child when I first marched with my mam for abortion access. Then, we were marching for information. I marched with my friends to get the State to legislate for X. I marched and campaigned with my daughter and, although he was tiny, with my grandson for repeal. At every stage, we count our wins, we accept our losses and we keep going. This legislation is evidence of that. We will keep going. Let us get the three-day wait gone. Let us mark our progress. Let us keep campaigning for women's rights, because I am long enough around and long enough campaigning to know that one piece of legislation without consensus makes a point. Building consensus and getting the law changed makes a real difference.

Sentiment score: 0.19