Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I will speak briefly because the Labour Party Senators have supported these amendments and, in particular, signed up to amendments Nos. 29, 31 and 32.

I echo the eloquent comments of Senators Kelleher and Ruane on these amendments and on the problems with the mandatory three-day waiting period and our difficulty with it. I share their view that we should not have this and that it is an unnecessary burden. I accept it was in the text published in advance of the referendum, but it is not something that will in any way assist women's access to abortion.

I acknowledge also that the Minister moved on this in the Dáil by inserting the new subsection (3)(b) into section 12. That is very important. It was in response in particular to issues raised by my colleague, Deputy Kelly, and others in the Dáil to try to reduce the onerous nature of the three-day period as a barrier for women. Our amendments are being put forward in the same constructive fashion seeking to mitigate in some way the difficulties that may well be posed for women and their doctors and the sort of scenarios Senator Ruane described because of the three-day period.

We should also acknowledge that section 12 will be the section under which, as the Minister said, the vast majority of terminations of pregnancy will be performed in practice. Looking at the statistics from England and Wales for 2017, 90% of terminations of pregnancy are carried out at under 13 weeks. We know that, in practice, early trimester abortion will be the most significant for most women. That is the reason it is important to get it right.