Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to the see the Minister here. I thank him for his work on this. This is an important piece of legislation and incredibly welcome. I also thank Together for Safety, which has been absolutely outstanding. I thank Karen and Yvie in particular, along with all its other members. Their lobbying has been incredibly effective. It is part of the reason we are here, and we would be foolish to not acknowledge that. I also acknowledge my colleague, Senator Gavan, who along with others sponsored legislation similar to this in the Seanad. While it did not pass, it had the effect of keeping the subject on people's agenda and to the forefront of minds.

I doubt I will take all my time, but I did not want to let the opportunity pass without saying a few words about why we are here. We are really here because we did not do our job in 2018. This should have been part of the legislation in 2018. I deeply regret that I did not push it harder at the time. I have said this before. We all got correspondence from the National Women's Council urging us to pass the legislation, acknowledging the safe access zones were not part of it, but saying we needed to rush. I believe the council was wrong. I deeply regret that I gave in to that pressure, because we should have done it at the same time. I apologise to every person who has had to pass by these people, who are attempting to intimidate or harass them, because we let them down. We should have been stronger. We should have stood up to the lobby and if it had taken even a small amount of extra time we should have done it. That said, it is very welcome we have this legislation and we are going to have that protection because, despite what others might like to say, abortion is healthcare and it is utterly ludicrous to think a person could actively try to prevent another person from accessing healthcare that is lawful. People who need healthcare should have access to it.

We talk a lot, and could talk all day, about the need to improve access to healthcare and there are a range of reasons people cannot access the healthcare, including the postcode lottery and all that, but in truth for this healthcare - for abortion care - there are very specific reasons and very specific actors who try to stand between the people who need this care and the hospitals and facilities that can deliver it. It is right that we have this legislation. It is not preventing people from doing something and is instead a form of protection for people who are accessing healthcare. I pass them. They are not there every morning. I drive rarely, but when I do, I pass them at Holles Street. I know many people who work in that hospital and in others and they will tell you it is not just intimidating for the patients but also for the staff. They consider it harassment. It is designed to make people feel uncomfortable. It is not designed to make people think again because by the time you are there you have made up your mind. We know our own minds. Everybody said “Trust women”, so trust us. It is not designed to do anything other than have a chilling effect on healthcare professionals and to intimidate patients who need healthcare. It is therefore very welcome this legislation is here.

If we are talking about access we need to talk about other impediments to healthcare. There is the postcode lottery. Like other Deputies, I am hopeful this protection might lift some of the chilling effect such that we might see a more even spread. That would be very welcome. The three-day wait also has an impact. It is an impediment to people accessing healthcare. No doctor looked for it to be put in and no lawyer looked for it to be put in; it was a political construct. It was put in at that time. The Minister will remember, as I do, that nobody asked the eighth amendment committee to put this in and it was not in any report. It was stuck in at the last minute. When we talk about access we need to talk about eliminating all barriers.

I conclude by again thanking Together for Safety and thanking the Minister for bringing this legislation through. When this is through we need to look at other impediments to accessing abortion care.

See this speech in context