Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

We have debated this at length but several points should be put on the record because this provision in the legislation could prove to be very problematic for many people and it is important to recognise this on Report Stage. People did not vote on the three day waiting period. I know the point being made by Deputies but people voted to repeal the eighth amendment. There was a piece of legislation and people might have agreed with some parts. In general, the big bullet point in bold big font was 12 weeks. That was the big debate. I do not think the idea of making people wait three days was a huge factor.

In actual fact, the parliamentary committee did not accept all of the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly. It was not willing to go that far. The Citizens' Assembly was made up of 99 ordinary people selected from an opinion poll so using logic we can deduce the people are ahead of politicians on this entire issue. If this provision had not been there the referendum would have been passed anyway.

In terms of people voting, I certainly did not know for sure that two visits would be involved when I spoke to people about it. I agree with what people have said on it being a three day waiting period and not two day visits for a woman who is pregnant. This is the way it has worked out. It is a pity this was introduced to appease some politicians because women will suffer. I know the bind the Minister is in but he could have implemented it in a different way.

I ask the Minister to listen to the debate. All of the people who spoke in favour of this, probably bar one Deputy, are against abortion so of course they are in favour of this. This seems to be about punishing women and making it as difficult as possible for them. These types of waiting periods are being introduced in the US by very conservative religious fundamentalist Republican Trump-type people. We have just introduced it in a state of the art Bill, which is a pity. We definitely need to agree this will be reviewed if it becomes a major problem.

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