Oireachtas committee to hear no clinical reason for retaining three-day abortion wait

The Health Service Executive (HSE) believes there is no clinical reason to keep the mandatory three-day wait for an abortion, senior officials will tell the Oireachtas health committee on Wednesday. A proposal to amend the pause, which is compulsory for all terminations up to 12 weeks’ gestation, is contained in a Sinn Féin Private Members’ Bill being considered by the committee.According to an opening statement from Dr Cliona Murphy, clinical director of the HSE’s National Women and Infants Health Programme, “there is no clinical requirement for a mandatory three-day waiting period”.The statement acknowledges that any decision on its removal “is a matter for policy and, ultimately, for the Oireachtas”.READ MORE[ Analysis: Go-slow or proper scrutiny?Opens in new window ]However, it adds that “from a clinical and operational perspective ... the HSE has no fundamental objection to its removal”.As to the policy, it sets out: “The opportunity for additional reflection should be available to a woman who wants it, rather than being imposed as a mandatory requirement on every woman.”It is unusual for a State body to express a view on a policy matter before the Oireachtas, especially one as sensitive as abortion.Murphy will tell the committee there is “an important distinction between removing a mandatory waiting period and removing the opportunity for reflection”. “Removing a mandatory waiting period would not mean that every woman would necessarily proceed to treatment on the day of her initial consultation. The timing of care would continue to depend on the individual woman’s circumstances, clinical assessment, service arrangements and, importantly, her own wishes,” her statement notes. “This is consistent with a more flexible, patient-centered approach based on informed consent, patient autonomy and individualised decision-making.” The committee will also hear from Department of Health, which will be represented chief medical officer Dr Mary Horgan, whose opening statement does not take a position on the matter. “It is a matter for the committee to decide on how this Bill progresses and ultimately a matter for the Oireachtas to determine whether the requirement for a mandatory three-day wait period is removed from the legislation,” her statement says. “As officials, our role is to respect the scrutiny process; we will continue to engage with this committee and the HSE and stakeholders to implement whatever decision is made and the outcome of the democratic process.”The committee has reached no decision on inviting any other witnesses, including those from an anti-abortion perspective, though members will discuss the question this morning.The Bill was introduced by Sinn Féin in May. Government TDs were given a free vote and it passed the second stage of the Dáil in June. A majority of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs voted against the Bill, but it was supported by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Simon Harris and Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.In 2018, the then Fine Gael-led government included a mandatory three-day waiting period in the landmark abortion law that followed the public vote to repeal the Eighth Amendment and lift a constitutional ban on the procedure. It meant that a woman had to wait 72 hours between requesting an abortion under 12 weeks at a first appointment and accessing one at a second appointment.A 2023 review of the law, authored by barrister Marie O’Shea, said that the three-day wait was denying some women access to legal terminations by forcing them beyond the legal limit.The Irish College for General Practitioners last week told the health committee there was no international evidence to support the wait, which it said can push women into needing hospital rather than community care for an abortion or beyond the legal limit entirely. This view was criticised by some Government TDs for not representing the views of GPs who wanted to retain keep the pause period.