I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." This is an important piece of legislation before the Dáil. It is a Bill to remove the mandatory three-day wait for women who need an abortion. It goes without saying that every woman must have the space, the understanding and the support she needs to come to her decision in her time. Any woman making this decision will have given it very deep thought. We should never underestimate, dismiss or discount that reality. To force a woman to wait for three days is just wrong. Tomorrow night, every TD will have an opportunity to right that wrong, to vote to change the law to remove this barrier to healthcare for women and to uphold the promise of repeal and take a significant step toward compassion. After all, that was the guiding principle when the people voted to repeal the eighth amendment eight years ago. We said then that we would trust women, and that is what we must do, not just with words or promises but with delivery. In truth, the three-day waiting period should never have been introduced. In fact, the original review of the legislation states very clearly that the three-day wait has to go. This is a considered recommendation based on real experience and the real impact of the enforced wait on the lives of women. This wait has caused huge harm and trauma. The three-day mandatory wait has seen women pushed beyond the 12-week period, meaning that they cannot access services here in Ireland. Eight years after repeal, some women are still forced to travel abroad. Women who have been sexually assaulted, who are the victims of domestic violence or are in abusive coercive relationships are left in the most awful of circumstances. The wait is also a very serious problem for women who have difficulty accessing a GP and services in their own county. Many are forced to travel for hours for the initial appointment, only to be sent away and told to return again after three days. I cannot tell the Minister of State the level of distress, suffering and emotional anguish for women across the country that this has caused. None of this is care. None of this is fair. None of this is compassionate. The three-day wait simply denies women the right to come to their decisions about their healthcare on their own terms and in their own time. It is wrong that women are forced into this arbitrary delay when they have already made a decision and presented themselves to their doctor. The three-day wait is not healthcare. It does not make services safer or better. It only serves as a barrier to women accessing the service they need. I believe there is widespread support across our society to end this three-day wait, for us to live up to the declaration that women are trusted and that we are respected to make decisions in our own time with compassion, space, understanding and care. Today, we can change the law. Irish women have been failed in so many ways for such a long time. We now have an opportunity to put one of those wrongs to right. I am conscious the review of the legislation asks that the Dáil and the Oireachtas consider other matters, including fatal foetal anomaly, and I urge the Government to establish the expert panel necessary to give us the advice, as an Oireachtas, in respect of those matters. I acknowledge the Government has indicated support for this legislation. I very much welcome that, and the support from Members right across the benches in this House. It is so important we work together to make this really essential change and that we all do the right thing by women. When the people voted to repeal the eighth amendment in 2018, it was a watershed moment, and the message was loud and clear; the days of women being denied the right to make decisions about our own healthcare were over. Trust, compassion and care; those were the values the Irish people chose to back. By voting to remove the three-day wait we can take a significant step to honouring that promise because for too long women have been let down. This is our opportunity now to ensure compassion and trust prevail.

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