I move: “That the Bill be now read a Second Time.” Eight years ago, Ireland voted overwhelmingly to repeal the eighth amendment. People voted for compassion and to end the cruelty of forcing women onto planes and ferries. They voted because we believe women should be able to access abortion here at home, with their families, doctors and support systems around them. While enormous progress has been made since then, the promise of repeal has not been fully realised. Many women who receive devastating diagnoses of fatal foetal conditions, often after the 20-week scan, are still forced to make that long, lonely journey to the UK. The mandatory three-day waiting period continues to create unnecessary distress and delay despite having absolutely no medical basis. The continued criminalisation of abortion creates fear among clinicians and stigma for patients. These issues were all identified in the Government's expert review of the law three years ago. Three years later, women are still waiting. This is why the Social Democrats are bringing forward this Bill which is based on a very simple principle, namely that women deserve compassionate, timely and evidence-based healthcare not stigma, shame and barriers but healthcare. A few weeks ago on Leaders' Questions, I raised the case of Denise Whitmore who nearly died travelling to England for a termination after receiving a fatal foetal diagnosis. After everything they had already endured, Denise and her husband, Mark, were advised to smuggle their daughter Éadha home in the boot of their car in order that they could bring her home to Ireland. The result of our current legislation is that grieving parents are being made to feel like criminals for wanting to bring their daughter home. That is not what Ireland voted for in 2018. As legislators, we do not get to look away from the reality because it is uncomfortable or complicated. We are the only people in this country with the power to fix laws that are causing harm. Right now, our law only permits a termination where the condition is likely to lead to the death of the foetus before birth or within 28 days of birth. Doctors, families and advocacy groups have repeatedly told us that this threshold is too narrow and too rigid. Doctors are being placed in an impossible position, and women are still travelling as a result. The mandatory three-day waiting period is another example of a barrier that exists not because of medicine but because of politics. Once again, it is women who pay the price. The World Health Organization has been very explicit that mandatory waiting periods create barriers to care and should be removed because women are capable of making decisions about our own healthcare. We know from IFPA research that 98% of women return after the three days, so what does the law actually achieve? It does not improve healthcare or protect women. In some cases, it is pushing women beyond the 12-week limit entirely, forcing them to travel abroad again. This Bill would make a reflection period available to any woman who wants more time but would no longer force women who have already made up their minds to delay their care. We also need to talk honestly about criminalisation. The World Health Organization is clear that abortion should be fully decriminalised and treated as healthcare, yet healthcare professionals in Ireland can still face up to 14 years' imprisonment. That matters because criminalisation creates a chilling effect whereby doctors must consider legal risk rather than focusing solely on the patient. Decriminalisation does not mean deregulation. There will be safeguards and accountability, and doctors will still be governed by professional standards and medical ethics. Healthcare should be regulated as healthcare as opposed to through the threat of criminal sanction. I ask Members across this House not to close their minds to this legislation before the work has even begun. Allow this Bill to move to Committee Stage, because that is where we can do our best work, where we hear from experts and clinicians and where we can test and improve legislation and strengthen it. This Bill is not the final product; it is the start of improving a system we know is failing too many women. The gaps in our law were identified three years ago in the O'Shea review. Women are still living with the consequences of our failure to act. They deserve better.

Sentiment score: -0.05

We all know that this law is causing harm, and we have a responsibility to change it. We know women are being hurt by the gaps in our legislation in maternity hospitals, on overnight ferries and in hotel rooms in England, far away from their loved ones. Everyone in this Chamber knows about it, and everyone in this Chamber needs to address that reality. We have heard repeated references today to caution, to limits and to concerns about changing the framework too much. There also needs to be caution about the harm caused by inaction, concern for the women who continue to fall through the cracks in this legislation, and limits to how long that evidence can be ignored, because none of these issues are new. The problems with the 28-day rule, the mandatory waiting period and the criminalisation of doctors were all identified years ago but nothing was done. There is a tendency, when abortion is discussed, for there to be an undercurrent of suspicion - suspicion that if barriers are removed, women and doctors simply could not be trusted. I was shocked today that the Minister for Health and Sinn Féin are in favour of criminalisation. When politicians create obstacles in abortion care, it is women who suffer. The continued existence of criminal penalties sends a message that abortion is something morally wrong, something dangerous, something outside the bounds of normal healthcare, and that affects how a service develops. It affects how clinicians feel about providing care. It affects stigma. It affects access. You cannot build a genuinely supportive healthcare system while simultaneously threatening doctors with a 14-year prison sentence. The World Health Organization is clear that it does not agree with this. People who fought for repeal will be stunned at the approach that Sinn Féin is taking. I am stunned too. Putting forward a proposal for the bare minimum - removing the three-day wait - Deputy Cullinane said that this strikes the right balance. I have to ask: for who? It is safe to say it is not the women who are forced to travel for a termination for medical reasons. Deputy Cullinane went as far as to say that our legislation lacks democratic legitimacy. That is an absolutely outrageous thing to say. It is based on an expert review of the law. Irish people expect a healthcare system based on science and compassion, not ideology and shame. The public also expects the Oireachtas to respond when flaws in the law become obvious. That is what this Bill seeks to do: to address clear and identifiable legislative gaps. That is why I am asking Members today not to shut down this debate on Second Stage. If Members believe that parts of this legislation can be strengthened, then come forward with amendments. If Members believe that safeguards should be clarified, make those arguments. However, refusing to even engage with reform when we already know the harm being caused is irresponsible. The women directly affected by these laws deserve better than that. They deserve a Dáil that will take this issue seriously because, at the end of the day, women will do what they need to do in order to access a termination. The question is whether we ensure they can do that safely in Ireland, or whether we continue to force them abroad; whether we listen to women who told us that the law failed them, or whether we choose to ignore them again. I encourage the Minister, if she means what she says, and if she actually wants something to change, to come forward with something concrete on what she would do about that. I would encourage a Committee Stage debate.

Sentiment score: -0.08