Republic of Ireland abortion review: removal of compulsory three day reflection period would be 'a betrayal' of referendum voters, claims pro life campaigner

However, today in Dublin, the Irish Parliament's Health Committee heard that there is no medical or legal reason for the mandatory three-day wait for an abortion, which was a part of the package approved by voters in 2018.

Barrister Dr Marie O'Shea, author of an independent review report on the legislation commissioned by the government, told the committee she had confirmed with the Chief Medical Officer that there was no legal or medical reason for the mandatory reflection period. The measure is causing anxiety and distress to women, she said.

Her report has recommended that the compulsory three-day wait is made optional.Dr O'Shea said she understood that the three-day wait was included so that women would not make a mistake that they would later regret.

Dr Catherine Conlon, an associate professor at Trinity College Dublin who researched key parts of the review, said there were no medical or legal underpinnings for the wait time, but she too said it is causing anxiety and distress.Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said several thousand women had changed their minds so far during the three day period, and he asked whether the researchers had spoken to any of them.Dr Conlon said they had not because none of those women were among those who had come forward via the unplanned pregnancy or abortion care supports.However speaking afterwards, Eilis Mulroy of the southern campaign group Pro Life Campaign, objected to attempts to scrap the three day rule.

"We believe a lot of the 'soft yes' voters would have taken comfort from the three day period, and it was sold at the time as a safeguard,” she said. “Even one of our senior ministers, Minister Simon Coveney, went public on the fact that he felt comfortable voting for a change in the law because of this safeguard - and that would have certainly swayed soft voters."

She strongly opposed removing the rule and was angered that this decision was to be taken without talking to any women who had decided to proceed with their pregnancy as a result of the rule.

"For this rule to be removed five years on - based on flawed data - is really a betrayal of the voters," she said. "A lot of them would have voted yes based on this rule."

She also believes that increasing pressure will be brought to bear on medical professionals who make use of the fact that the legislation allows for conscious clause not to be involved in abortion.s

Ms Mulroy claims that this will be done by vetting medical professionals on the issue before recruiting them and also by running "value clarification workshops" for current employees which she said sounded "kind of Orwellian".

She said there had been some 30,000 abortions in the south since the law change in 2018.

Pro-choice campaigners such as People Before Profit and Amnesty International were also invited to comment.

Dawn McEvoy of NI pro-life group Both Lives Matter, said: "Recommendations within the report to remove or weaken current safeguards, such as the three day wait period and conscientious objection rights, are extremely concerning. These are seen alongside recommendations to increase and extend abortion access, including beyond 12 weeks of pregnancy and potentially for babies diagnosed with a disability.”

Liam Gibson, NI spokesman for pro-life group SPUC, said: "The review of the Republic of Ireland's abortion regime is little more than political theatre. It would be naive to think that the political establishment will not take this opportunity to liberalise the current law. Since the decision of the US Supreme Court to overturn its decision to recognise access to abortion as a constitutional right pressure has been building internationally for decriminalisation and even the creation of a “human right” to abortion. This can be seen in various European states as well as in the UK.

"The extreme nature of the law in Northern Ireland, which Sinn Fein fully supports, means that the party leadership in the Republic will back the expansion of the current regime on the pretext of harmonising the situation across the border. The governing coalition is already threatened by Sinn Fein’s rise in the opinion polls and won’t want to be outmanoeuvred on the abortion issue.

"The Irish Republic will almost certainly follow the pattern seen virtually everywhere liberal abortion has been introduced. Abortion is the greatest violation of human rights in the world today so in order to maintain the abortion industry it becomes necessary to prevent people from drawing attention to the truth that abortion kills children and hurts women. Once the right to life can be eliminated by the state then freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of conscience must also be cancelled for anyone who objects to it. That’s what is already happening. Sadly the situation is probably going to get much worse before it gets better."