Aontú Senator Sarah O’Reilly has questioned the Irish College of General Practitioners’ position on the removal of the three-day waiting period, following today’s meeting of the Oireachtas Health Committee.
Senator O’Reilly said the evidence presented by the ICGP raised serious questions about the case for removing the second consultation.
“Dr Ciara McCarthy has previously spoken about the importance of women having proper consultation with their GP to make an informed decision on contraception. If a woman wants an IUD, she may have two separate appointments. Yet when it comes to abortion, we are being told that the second consultation is somehow an unnecessary barrier.
“Dr McCarthy did not address the fact that abortion is an irreversible decision or explain why she believes greater consultation is appropriate for contraception but not for abortion.”
Senator O’Reilly said her own experience reinforced for her the importance of allowing women time and support when faced with an unplanned pregnancy.
“I had a baby at 16, so I know the trauma, worry and uncertainty that can come with an unplanned pregnancy. Those three days could give a woman time to think, ask questions, seek support or reconsider her decision.
“Dr Suzanne Kelly told the Committee that the majority of women present at an early enough stage of pregnancy to allow for a reflection period. So, there is a contradiction here. We are being told both that most women have sufficient time for reflection and that the three-day period is a significant barrier that can push women outside the 12-week limit.
“We were told that there is no data demonstrating this, with the argument appearing to rely heavily on anecdotal evidence. We also have a significant gap in the evidence when it comes to the women who do not return for their second appointment.
“HSE figures show that 10,534 women did not return to proceed with an abortion after their initial consultation between 2019 and 2024. We cannot say that all of those women continued their pregnancies, but equally we cannot say that the three-day period had no role in any of those decisions.
“We heard today that people cannot cherry-pick the facts. I agree. We need to look at all of the evidence, including the women who did not return for that second appointment, their voices are completely missing from this conversation.”
“We were also told that removing the three-day wait is ‘not a concern for members of the ICGP and yet there has been no survey or attempt to get the views of GPs across the country.”
“If informed choice and safeguarding are genuinely at the centre of abortion care, I struggle to understand why we would remove a second opportunity for a woman to speak to her GP before making an irreversible decision. It is also incredibly concerning that the ICGP admitted they had no knowledge of the cases of coercive abortion that have come before the courts in Ireland.
