Written answers
Tuesday, 12 July 2022
Department of Health
Legislative Reviews
Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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149. To ask the Minister for Health if he will detail the progress that has been made on the review of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018; when he will report to Dáil Éireann on same; the estimated timeline for its finalisation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37684/22]
Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Review of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 commenced in line with statutory and Government commitments in December 2021. The Review will assess the effectiveness of the operation of the legislation and will be conducted in a fair and transparent manner.
The Review comprises of 2 main phases. As part of the first phase of the review, information, and evidence on the operation of the Act is being collected from women who use the service, from health professionals that provide the service, and from the public. The three elements within the first phase of the Review have initiated:
- Public Consultation. The public consultation provided organisations, stakeholders, advocacy groups working in the area and all other interested parties with the opportunity to inform the Review of the operation of the legislation. The consultation closed on 1st April. Submissions received as part of this process are currently being reviewed.
- Service User Perspective. Research to inform the service user strand is being carried out by Dr Catherine Conlon who is progressing a qualitative study to investigate unplanned pregnancy and abortion care. This study, which was commissioned by the HSE’s Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme in September 2019, will generate an in-depth understanding of the experiences of women who have accessed abortion care services since the commencement of the Act. This study report is due to be published imminently.
- Service Provider Perspective. Research to inform the service provider strand is being carried out by Manchester Metropolitan University. This qualitative research will capture the views/experiences of termination of pregnancy service providers.
The second phase of the Review is being led by an independent Chair, Marie O’Shea BL, who will assess the extent to which the objectives of the 2018 Act have been achieved, analysing in that regard the findings of the three major research inputs.
A final report will be submitted to me in late 2022 for consideration.
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