Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Following the awful decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in overturning Roe v. Wade on Friday, we know hundreds of thousands of women and girls in the US have been plunged into crisis. We need to ensure, here in Ireland, that we are addressing the real needs of women and girls in crisis pregnancy by ensuring adequate access to abortion healthcare, particularly given the 66.4% majority of the people who voted for repeal of the eighth amendment in 2018. We have learned that 206 women had to travel from Ireland to Britain last year because they could not get an abortion here. We know half of the counties in Ireland have fewer than ten GPs providing abortion, with some having none. Yet, the Minister for Health, in response to a question by Deputy Duncan Smith, said he was satisfied with the geographical spread of abortion provision. Will the Taoiseach guarantee that the review of the abortion legislation will ensure adequate access to abortion care for women in this country who need it?

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