Ireland – Taoiseach and Tánaiste to back Sinn Féin bill removing three-day abortion waiting period

Free vote for Government TDs as legislation advances to remove mandatory delay before accessing abortion care.

Tue, 16 Jun, 2026
Louise Burne

Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris will both vote in favour of a Sinn Féin bill to remove the three-day waiting period for abortion services.

The Dáil is set to debate a bill tabled by Sinn Féin on Tuesday evening that seeks to remove the three-day reflection period that a woman must wait between seeking an abortion from a doctor and accessing the service.

continued: https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/politics/arid-41863755.html

16.06.2026

News

3-day waiting requirement

8th Amendment

mandatory waiting period

Abortion trauma is a myth. Irish women don’t need laws to make them ‘reflect’ on their choices

More people regret knee surgery than abortion. So why is the patriarchy still scaring us with lifelong torment?

Roe McDermott, The Guardian
Tue 26 May 2026

Ireland’s parliament, the Dáil, voted down a reproductive rights amendment bill this month that would have abolished the country’s mandatory three-day waiting period for access to an abortion. Supporters of the unsuccessful reform bill, tabled by the Social Democrats, argued that the delay serves no medical purpose.

As the bill moved through political debate and media coverage, those defending the requirement to wait three days from the time of requesting an abortion before care can be accessed barely attempted to argue otherwise, instead structuring their opposition to reform around the idea that women cannot be trusted to know what they want. The waiting period, which is not required in most European countries, was repeatedly described as “a cooling off” period; time to “reflect”, “reconsider”, “rethink”. Supporters of the status quo spoke extensively of wanting to save women from feelings of regret.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/26/abortion-trauma-myth-irish-women-patriarchy

Ireland – Bill introduced to abolish ‘patronising and paternalistic’ three-day abortion wait period

Social Democrats say ‘cooling off period’ lacks scientific basis

Ellen O’Riordan, Marie O’Halloran
Tue Apr 28 2026

Pregnant women would no longer have to undergo a “patronising and paternalistic” three-day wait between attending a doctor and getting an abortion under legislation proposed by the Social Democrats.

The party wants the Government to amend the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018, removing the mandatory three-day “cooling off” period, which the party says is “patronising and paternalistic” and lacks a “scientific basis”.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/social-affairs/2026/04/28/bill-introduced-to-abolish-patronising-and-paternalistic-three-day-abortion-wait-period/

28.04.2026

News

3-day waiting requirement

conscientious objection

Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018

Holly Cairns

mandatory waiting period

Tenacious initiation: using Bills to keep abortion reform on the legislative agenda in Ireland

In this post, Dr Alana Farrell critiques legislative process in Ireland with particular focus on the matters of abortion law.

13 March 2026
Dr Alana Farrell

In January 2026, three TDs[1] in Dáil Eireann (the lower House in the Irish parliament) – Ruth Coppinger, Paul Murphy and Richard Boyd Barrett – raised a new Private Member’s Bill: the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) (Amendment) Bill 2026. The Bill proposes to delete subsections (3), (4) and (5) from section 12 of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018. These sections mandate a 3-day waiting period for abortion seekers requesting an abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. It would also remove the denotation of ‘12 weeks of pregnancy’ as being calculated from the ‘first day of a woman’s last menstrual period’.

The overarching goal of this Bill is to remove the medically unnecessary, stigmatising mandatory waiting period. The 2026 Bill is not the first time that legislators outside of the government parties have attempted to reform the law through pro-choice alligned Private Member’s Bills.

Continued: https://blog.bham.ac.uk/lawresearch/2026/03/tenacious-initiation-using-bills-to-keep-abortion-reform-on-the-legislative-agenda-in-ireland/

13.03.2026

Research

Dr Alana Farrell

Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018

mandatory waiting period

Ruth Coppinger

Safe Access to Termination of Pregnancy Services Bill 2021

Ireland – ‘You can buy Viagra over the counter’: Bill to abolish three-day abortion wait introduced

Ruth Coppinger says 72-hour delay ‘does not apply to any other medical procedure that we have in law’

Marie O’Halloran
Thu Jan 29 2026

Legislation to abolish the three-day waiting period for abortion on request has been introduced in the Dáil.

Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger said “termination of pregnancy is a health procedure that is extremely time sensitive” and the 2018 Act introduced a mandatory 72-hour cooling off period before a second appointment to access abortion.

Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said the Government was not opposing the legislation “at first stage”.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/oireachtas/2026/01/29/you-can-buy-viagra-over-the-counter-bill-to-abolish-three-day-abortion-wait-introduced/

Luxembourg – Government to end abortion reflection period, ban virginity exams

Jan 11, 2025

The Luxembourg government has approved a bill to abolish the mandatory three-day reflection period for abortions and ban virginity certificates and hymenoplasty, marking a significant step forward for women's rights.

The Ministries of Health and Justice announced on Friday evening that the Government Council has approved a bill seeking to strengthen women's rights in Luxembourg by abolishing the mandatory reflection period ahead of an abortion. The bill, which aims at combating practices undermining human dignity, will thus abolish the deadline, currently set at three days.

Continued: https://today.rtl.lu/news/luxembourg/a/2266193.html

11.01.2025

News

3-day waiting requirement

abortion law reform

Consultative Human Rights Commission

Elisabeth Margue

mandatory waiting period

Germany has a historic opportunity to modernise its abortion law

Center for Reproductive Rights welcomes presentation of new cross-party proposal to make abortion care equitable and more accessible

Nov 14, 2024

BERLIN—A cross-party coalition of Members of the German Parliament introduced a bill today intended to liberalise Germany’s abortion law. The proposed legislation would fully legalise abortion on request up to 12 weeks of pregnancy and remove the mandatory three-day waiting period, among other key changes.

This reform marks a long overdue step toward aligning German abortion laws with international human rights and public health standards, paving the way for more accessible reproductive care.

Continued: https://reproductiverights.org/germany-historic-opportunity-modernise-abortion-law/

14.11.2024

News

3-day waiting requirement

abortion law reform

Adriana Lamačková

Center for Reproductive Rights

mandatory waiting period

In Russia, International Safe Abortion Day Is a Reminder of Reproductive Rights Backsliding

By Moscow Times Reporter
Sept 28, 2024

Women’s rights activists across the globe on Saturday marked International Safe Abortion Day. But for many in Russia, the occasion was a bitter reminder of how far the country’s government has backtracked on its once-liberal abortion policies, leaving thousands of women with increasingly limited access to safe, affordable and timely abortion care.

This week, the Far East Primorye region became the 11th Russian region to outlaw “coercion” into abortion, a term that encompasses actions such as persuasion, bribery, deceit, blackmail or workplace pressure that compel women to terminate a pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/09/28/in-russia-international-safe-abortion-day-is-a-reminder-of-reproductive-rights-backsliding-a86497

Netherlands – There Are No Stigma-Free Abortions, Even in ‘Progressive’ Countries

There are so many things you’d never know about abortions unless you go through one.

By Maud Droste, Illustrated By Djanlissa Pringels
December 8, 2023

I’m in utter disbelief, staring down at a positive result on a drugstore pregnancy test. It’s March 2020. My relationship had just ended two days before, I’d just found out my roommate and I would be evicted and, thanks to a massive bout of procrastination, I had about a month left to finish my bachelor’s thesis.

Getting pregnant was the last of a long list of life-changing events I hadn’t seen coming. My roommate, however, had. I’d been tired for weeks, the only food I craved was mango – which I inevitably threw up after eating – and I felt ambivalent about absolutely everything. “I think you should probably take a test,” she said.

Continued: https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5gay7/no-stigma-free-abortions

08.12.2023

Opinion

Abortion Buddies programme

abortion stigma

European Abortion Policies Atlas

Eva de Goeij

five-day reflection period

Humanistisch Verbond

mandatory waiting period

Russia Edges Closer to Abortion Ban in Quest to Preserve ‘Traditional Values’

By Leyla Latypova
July 27, 2023

The Russian government could be moving closer toward outlawing abortion, experts and activists have told The Moscow Times, as its wartime stifling of freedoms spreads to sexual and reproductive health rights.

While Russia has historically had a liberal abortion policy — with the exception of the Stalin-era ban — the conservative turn among the country's leadership, combined with a push from the Russian Orthodox Church, have put a target on the issue.

Continued: https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/07/27/russia-edges-closer-to-abortion-ban-in-quest-to-preserve-traditional-values-a81977

27.07.2023