Just over eight years ago, the people of this State made a decision. They made that decision to repeal the eighth amendment. We saw how it impacted on people. It impacted on young people and older people. We saw how this created a movement that saw young Irish people who were scattered across the globe come home to vote in what they felt was a critical referendum for their future. Many of us here, including me, got involved in campaign groups with people of a variety of political viewpoints to make a change we all felt was necessary. We knocked on doors, had long conversations with many people and, on 25 May 2018, the people voted and made the decision to repeal the amendment. That decision was rooted in a trust of women – a trust in women's decision-making and a deep need for compassion around women's healthcare. It is now eight years later and we now have women with lived experiences who have spoken to all of us in this Chamber and who have felt the need to share their stories in order to help others. The question of the mandatory three-day wait has been to the forefront of this conversation. Sinn Féin has been clear from the get-go that we are opposed to the three-day wait and that it hinders women's ability to access the care they need. This is not just something we believe but something women have told us consistently since the repeal of the eighth amendment. As with everything, there are many examples and differing realities concerning how people are impacted. I am conscious when I give examples of those impacted that there are people watching today who have had different experiences. Of course, we think of all of those experiences. However, the issues of coercive control and domestic abuse are becoming far more prevalent in public discourse. With greater recognition of the effects they have, we realise the reality for women in such scenarios is that access to a first medical appointment may be incredibly difficult to arrange. It can be impossible to arrange a second one. Some women may find out later in pregnancy that they are in fact pregnant and, therefore, the three-day wait may push them out of the timeline that allows for termination. It is not showing the compassion to survivors of sexual assault and rape that they should be shown within the healthcare system. There are, of course, many other scenarios, but it ultimately comes down to the fact that the three-day wait is not grounded in the compassionate healthcare that women need. I hope this Chamber votes to get rid of it tomorrow evening.

Sentiment score: 0.08