Health

Government needs ‘courage’ to make changes to abortion laws, barrister says

Among Marie O’Shea’s recommendations is the removal of a mandatory three-day waiting period between a woman’s initial medical consultation and her being given access to abortion treatment or medication

  • May 31, 2023
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste Micheál Martin welcomed O’Shea’s work but both expressed caution around moving to significantly change the legal framework that people believed would be implemented when they voted in the referendum. Picture: Getty

A senior barrister who reviewed Ireland’s abortion laws has expressed disappointment at the Taoiseach and Tánaiste’s response to her recommendations and suggested “a bit of courage wouldn’t go amiss”.

Marie O’Shea recommended a series of operational and legislative changes to the system introduced after the country voted to liberalise its laws on terminations in the landmark referendum in 2018.

While the Government is pressing ahead with the operational recommendations, it has referred the legislative proposals ...