On the third anniversary of the referendum vote to Repeal 8th Amendment to the Constitution (Tuesday May 25) Deputy Bríd Smith, People Before Profit, is calling on the Government to deal with outstanding issues on reproductive rights.
She said: “The historic Repeal referendum in 2018 saw 66.4% of people vote to give women the right to make their own choices on their reproductive rights in their own country. However, today there are still major issues which impact on the rights of access of pregnant people to terminations and other provisions.”
There are areas of the country without any abortion services being available and significant questions around accessibility and the issue of the three-day waiting period remain unresolved. The government are committed to a Review of the Termination of Pregnancy Act but they need to specify how and when this will happen as requested by Deputy Smith and others.
The issue of the ethos of the future National Maternity Hospital is still unclear but increasingly there is concern that the Sisters of Charity will continue to have an influence on the board of management. This is totally unacceptable and flies in the face of the issues around the Repeal movement. Instead the hospital should be entirely free from any interference from the Catholic Church. Deputy Smith has continually called for clarity around this issue, but the Health Minister has failed to respond.
There are outstanding ancillary issues from the Citizens Assembly which the Government has failed to deal with such as free contraception and a non-ethos based sex education programme.
Tomorrow at 1pm on 25 May, women’s choice and equality groups will be staging a protest outside Leinster House to demand the government deal with the issues above. Deputy Smith will be raising these issues in Dáil Eireann tomorrow.
