{"id":505112,"date":"2026-06-17T23:48:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T23:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/505112\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T23:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T23:48:11","slug":"sinn-fein-bill-on-abortion-services-passes-crucial-dail-vote-with-help-of-ministers-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/505112\/","title":{"rendered":"Sinn F\u00e9in Bill on abortion services passes crucial D\u00e1il vote with help of Ministers \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The controversial Bill to end the mandatory three-day wait<\/a> before accessing an abortion in early pregnancy has passed second stage in the D\u00e1il<\/a> by 86 votes to 70. <\/p>\n

Cabinet Ministers opposing the legislation included Minister for Justice Jim O\u2019Callaghan, Minister for Housing James Browne, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon, Minister for Children Norma Foley, Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary and Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke. <\/p>\n

But Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin, T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers and Minister for Transport Darragh O\u2019Brien supported the legislation.<\/p>\n

Minister for Higher Education James Lawless, Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee, Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton and Minister for the Arts Patrick O\u2019Donovan were not present for the vote.<\/p>\n

At present there is a compulsory three-day waiting period between when a woman can seek an abortion up to 12 weeks and be granted the medication that would end her pregnancy.<\/p>\n

Ministers of State voting against the Sinn F\u00e9in Bill included Robert Troy, John Cummins, Frankie Feighan, Sean Canney, Marian Harkin and Kevin \u2018Boxer\u2019 Moran. <\/p>\n

A majority of Fianna F\u00e1il TDs \u2013 30 \u2013 voted against the proposal while 12 supported the Bill. A further six were absent. A majority of Fine Gael TDs also rejected the Bill with 26 against and 11 in favour. <\/p>\n

A number of TDs from Government parties had indicated in the run up that they would vote against a Sinn F\u00e9in Bill. <\/p>\n

Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael TDs were given a free vote on whether to allow the Bill proceed to second stage on Wednesday evening. <\/p>\n

However, both the Taoiseach and the T\u00e1naiste had indicated they would back the Bill. <\/p>\n

The Minister for Health also indicated she would support the Bill, with the Government set to bring forward amendments to the legislation at committee stage. <\/p>\n

Several Fianna F\u00e1il TDs, including a minister of state, and two Fine Gael TDs, earlier told The Irish Times they would not support the Sinn F\u00e9in Bill, which was nonetheless expected to pass. <\/p>\n

Robert Troy, the Fianna F\u00e1il TD for Longford-Westmeath and junior minister in the Department of Finance, said: \u201cI\u2019ll be voting against it. We made a commitment \u2013 as someone who voted for repeal the Eighth, one of the conditions we brought in was a three-day wait and we\u2019ve seen that 10,000-plus people on reflection have decided not to proceed with the procedure.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the then-government had published the full legislation in advance of the 2018 referendum \u201cin order to give people certainty on what they were voting on\u201d. <\/p>\n

He said some people had supported repeal on the basis that \u201csome protections and safeguards [were] in place, this being one\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t do politics any justice to row back a short time later and try and change things,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Fianna F\u00e1il TD for Carlow-Kilkenny John McGuinness said he would be voting against it \u201cbecause I\u2019m pro life, that\u2019s my take on it\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Fianna F\u00e1il party has always taken that view. I know the leader thinks differently, but that\u2019s my view and the view of the vast majority of people who I represent,\u201d he said. \u201cThe number of abortions we have had in the country has increased every year. The politicians have continued to chip away at that position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fianna F\u00e1il TD for Laois Se\u00e1n Fleming said he wanted the Government to put down a timed amendment \u2013 delaying the vote \u2013 and publish its intended amendments before asking its TDs to vote on it, and that he would vote against the Bill on Wednesday evening. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Government are saying they have good proposals for amendments. My view is very simple. We should have a short, timed amendment and let the Government bring forward its own proposals,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Pete Roche, a Fine Gael TD for Galway East, said he was \u201cquite emphatic\u201d that he would vote against the Bill. <\/p>\n

\u201cSome people who are deeply traumatised and stressed \u2026 they go in for consultation and there\u2019s a decent percentage who don\u2019t go back for their second consultation and there\u2019s a baby left alive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree days is a very short time and sometimes people need some space to decide with mature reflection what they want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Party colleague Joe Cooney, TD for Clare, said he would decide during the day on Wednesday which way to vote. Fine Gael TD for Wicklow-Wexford Brian Brennan had also said he would vote against the Bill.<\/p>\n

P\u00e1draig O\u2019Sullivan, Fianna F\u00e1il TD for Cork North Central, indicated he would vote against. Fianna F\u00e1il TD for Sligo-Leitrim, Eamon Scanlon, said he believed \u201cthere\u2019s quite a number of people alive today because of that three-day wait\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a referendum, people voted in that referendum, one of the conditions was there was a three-day waiting period. I don\u2019t know why it needs to be changed, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s sufficient reason to do it,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Independent TD and Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Noel Grealish said he would be voting against the Sinn F\u00e9in motion.<\/p>\n

Labour leader Ivana Bacik called for the full implementation of the O\u2019Shea review recommendations on abortion. The 2023 review highlighted issues of access, delay and stigma, making a number of recommendations.<\/p>\n

Bacik claimed \u201cpolitical squeamishness and cowardice\u201d prevent women from getting the care they need.<\/p>\n

Raising the issue in the D\u00e1il in advance of the vote on removing the mandatory three-day wait after a first medical consultation, she said \u201cwe need to go further\u201d. A residual insulting patriarchal mistrust of women\u201d forms \u201cthe basis of the mandatory three-day wait and Government\u2019s unwillingness to engage with the evidence that other change is needed\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bacik said \u201cwe need to go further than removing the mandatory three-day wait\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need urgent reform of the overly restrictive provisions on fatal foetal anomaly, and we need implementation of all the recommendations from Marie O\u2019Shea\u2019s report,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said even if the D\u00e1il voted for the removal of the three-day rule \u201cit will not be enough\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Taoiseach told her \u201cthere is a broad spectrum of sincerely held views on this issue we should respect that\u201d. He said the Government respects that \u201cin so far as we have a conscience vote on these issues\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The controversial Bill to end the mandatory three-day wait before accessing an abortion in early pregnancy has passed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":505113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[12891,15049,895,3775,42,3657,1421,85378,6189,1843,43,50158,70,3415,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-505112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-abortion","tag-dail-eireann","tag-fianna-fail","tag-fine-gael","tag-headlines","tag-ivana-bacik","tag-jennifer-carroll-macneill","tag-john-mcguinness","tag-labour-party","tag-micheal-martin","tag-news","tag-robert-troy","tag-simon-harris","tag-sinn-fein","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}