Denise Whitmore was absolutely devastated when she learned at a routine scan in November 2024 that her baby's brain had not developed and that the condition was fatal. After a lot of consideration, Denise and her husband Mark made the heartbreaking decision to terminate the pregnancy but because doctors could not be absolutely certain her baby would die within 28 days, as is required by current legislation, Denise was forced to travel to the UK for treatment. To say it was not an easy journey is an understatement. Denise was six months pregnant and was bleeding from an additional complication of a low-lying placenta. On the day they were due to travel, their ferry to Holyhead was cancelled. This meant travelling to Pembroke instead, followed by a five-hour car journey to Liverpool. Once they were at the hospital, doctors stopped the baby's heart and Denise prepared to give birth, but she began to haemorrhage. She lost five units of blood, causing her body to go into shock. Doctors were forced to do an emergency C-section, and they had to warn Denise in advance that they may need to do a hysterectomy to stop the bleeding. When Éadha was born, Denise and Mark spent some time with their daughter in the hospital. As if all of this was not hard enough, they then had to think about the legality of getting home. A consultant in Liverpool warned them to put Éadha's body in the boot of their car and smuggle her back to Ireland, but they could not bring themselves to do that. When they got to the ferry, Mark declared they were bringing their daughter home, and they were gripped by fear that they might be arrested. This legislation is inhumane. If it were not for a kind worker at the ferry terminal allowing them to travel, they would not have been able to bring Éadha home to meet her three-year-old brother and the rest of her family. Denise's trauma did not end there. Despite having major surgery in the UK, there was zero follow-up care for her in Ireland. Even when she presented to a bereavement midwife to get counselling, she was told it was not available. Denise and her family were on their own. Every year, 240 women have to travel to the UK to access abortion care; each one with their own story of grief, trauma and sheer horror at what they are forced to go through. It is a complete and utter disgrace. An expert report recommending clarity on the provision of care in cases of foetal abnormality and the end to criminalisation of doctors was published in April 2023. For three years, the Government has ignored these recommendations-----
Sentiment score: -0.26
-----and the result is hundreds of women like Denise who are forced to travel for care. My question is simple: is the Government going to continue to ignore these women and make them suffer?
Sentiment score: -0.16
Ultimately, when we voted on repeal, we voted to take women's healthcare out of the Constitution and put it into the hands of doctors, the Members in this House and women themselves. No legislation is set in stone, and everybody who voted on this knows that. A review was also baked into that. With all the other things the Taoiseach has spoken about which people voted on, we also voted that there would be a review. It took five years for that review to happen and a lot of people suffered in that time. Then, we finally got the review and the recommendations were clear: the criminalisation of doctors, cases of fatal foetal abnormalities and the three-day mandatory waiting period all needed to go. The Government has had three years to act on that and it has not. I agree with the Taoiseach that many people who voted "Yes" to repeal, voted "Yes" because of women who needed terminations for medical reasons, yet they are still forced to travel. Inaction on this is cruel. I ask the Taoiseach to act and to act fast. He says the Government is going to review this. Can he elaborate on the timeline for this? Will he will allow a free vote on this in the Dáil?
Sentiment score: -0.09