Three-day wait was a ‘barrier to care’ says Kildare TD after abortion bill passes
Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon also issued a statement regarding his No vote after the bill was carried by 86 votes to 70
The Dáil has voted in favour of the Sinn Féin bill to remove the three-day mandatory wait for access to abortion services. The vote was carried by 86 votes to 70 and will now go before an Oireachtas committee for further scrutiny.
When asked by the Leinster Leader about his Yes vote and about the bill passing, Kildare North TD Aidan Farrelly said: “The Sinn Féin Bill was supported by the Social Democrats, on foot of the recommendations as laid out by The Independent Review of the Operation of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018.
“That review found that women who receive a diagnosis of fatal foetal abnormality are still being denied compassionate care in this country; that the mandatory three-day wait period was a barrier to care; and that the criminalisation of doctors was resulting in risk averse and overly cautious decision making.
“The Social Democrats had tabled more comprehensive legislation in recent weeks which Sinn Féin chose not to support but abstain. This is very disappointing.”
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The Kildare TD’s who voted on the bill were relatively split with five voting Yes; Réada Cronin (Sinn Féin), Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh (Sinn Féin), Aidan Farrelly (Social Democrats), Naoise Ó Cearúil (Fianna Fáil) and Mark Wall (Labour).
The three No votes came from Fine Gael duo Martin Heydon and Joe Neville alongside Fianna Fáil’s Seán Ó Fearghaíl.
When asked by the Leinster Leader about his No vote and about the bill passing, Kildare South TD and Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon said: “I voted No to the bill seeking to repeal the three-day wait in abortion cases as this clause was in the 2018 regulations published before the referendum vote and it was part of people’s considerations when deciding whether to vote for repeal at the time.”
The majority of Fianna Fáil TDs voted against the move to remove the three-day wait for abortion services, including five members of Cabinet. In total, 30 Fianna Fáil TDs voted against the bill, 12 voted for it (one being Naoise Ó Cearúil), while six others were absent (one of which was Kildare North’s James Lawless).
23 Fine Gael TDs voted against the bill, including Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke and the aforementioned Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon.