Abortion bill passes all stages in Oireachtas

Abortion bill passes all stages in Oireachtas

Legislation providing for access to abortion on request up to 12 weeks has been approved by TDs and Senators.

The Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018 will now go to President Michael D. Higgins to be signed into law, six months after the referendum on the repeal of the Eighth Amendment.

Ireland’s constitutional ban on abortion was overturned by 66.4 per cent of voters in May following a decades-long campaign by women’s groups and human rights activists, including lawyers.

Health Minister Simon Harris said: “This is a genuinely historic moment. It paves the way for the implementation of the service for termination of pregnancy in January 2019.

“The legislation permits terminations to be carried out up to 12 weeks of pregnancy; or where there is a risk to the life, or of serious harm to the health, of the pregnant woman; or where there is a risk to the life, or of serious harm to the health, of the pregnant woman in an emergency; or where there is a condition present which is likely to lead to the death of the foetus either before or within 28 days of birth.

“I want to thank the campaigners who fought for 35 years to change a nation, to change hearts and minds. I want to thank the minority who fought the battle in here when it was convenient for the majority to ignore.

“But today, I think mostly of the thousands of women who were forced to make the journey to access care that should have been available in their own country.”

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