The three-day wait has to go. I am glad to get the chance to speak on this Bill. I welcome Sinn Féin's constructive and consensus-seeking approach on this key issue affecting every woman in this State in one way or another. It is a modest proposal, doing the bare minimum in implementing a key recommendation of the O'Shea report. The three-day wait is backward, causing harm to women and forcing them to go abroad for essential healthcare. When the Irish people voted for repeal, they voted to trust women, give them ownership over their own bodies and allow them to choose whether they were prepared to carry and welcome a child into the world. This is a very serious decision, and we can all rest assured it is given serious consideration by mná na hÉireann. No woman having an abortion is making the choice lightly or frivolously. We have a responsibility to take women's agency seriously and to trust their judgment. We cannot, on the one hand, say we are giving women the choice and, on the other, say they have to wait. It is paternalistic and patriarchal, taking control away from women regarding decisions to do with their own bodies. We have all heard stories of the awful predicament this rule leaves women in and, as such, it represents an unacceptable barrier to access. Women who are victims of sexual violence and coercive control, women who do not have easy access to GP care and women who learn of their pregnancies late cannot afford to wait. These women should not be punished for the failings of society. This Sinn Féin Bill takes an important step towards a compassionate vision of healthcare that places the well-being of patients at the centre. This is only the first step. Many other barriers remain for women accessing reproductive rights. Crucially, abortion care needs to be removed from the law related to criminal offences in the Statute Book. Caithfear fáil réidh leis an tréimhse feithimh trí lá chun rochtain a fháil ar ghinmhilleadh. Níl sé ag coinneáil le spiorad an reifrinn repeal a thug cearta do mhná maidir le féinriar colainne. Teastaíonn uainn smacht a thabhairt do mhná ar chinntí a bhaineann lena gcolainn féin agus muinín a chur iontu go bhfuil siad ag déanamh an chinnidh chirt dóibh féin. Tá an tréimhse feithimh ag déanamh dochar d'an-chuid ban agus ag cur iachall orthu taisteal. Molaim do gach Teachta sa Teach seo tacú lenár mBille agus muinín a léiriú i mná na hÉireann.

Sentiment score: 0.02