The mandatory three-day wait between seeing a doctor and accessing abortion care is “inappropriate", "patronising" and “paternalistic”, a top doctor has said.
A woman has 12 weeks to terminate her pregnancy but is required by law to attend two doctors’ appointments with a buffer period in between.
An anonymised analysis of early abortion in 2021, from the Irish Family Planning Association showed 97.5% of people still went ahead with abortion care after the three-day gap.
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Dr. Caitríona Henchion, IFPA Medical Director, said: “Our data insights are in line with the views and experiences of leading medical experts, and of the World Health Organisation, that an enforced waiting period before abortion care is unjustifiable and patronising.
“459 of our clients who attended for early abortion care were eligible for abortion. We do not know the outcomes for 12 clients, as they made no further contact after their initial consultation.
“Of the remaining 447 clients for whom the outcome is known, 97.5% accessed abortion care after the mandatory three-day wait.
“Of these, 87% received their care from the IFPA and 10.5% were referred to a hospital, in accordance with HSE guidelines. Our records for 2021 indicate that 2.5% of our clients continued their pregnancies.
“We looked initially at anonymised data for 484 clients who attended for a first abortion consultation.
“Within this sample, 25 clients were ineligible for continued abortion care, because they experienced a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy or had a negative pregnancy test at their first consultation. The waiting period was therefore not relevant in these cases.”
The top doctor said those who were eligible had already made their decision and stressed nothing from the data indicated that the three-day wait influenced their decision.
She explained: “We know from our services that the mandatory waiting period causes delay, stress, and harm to women. And can make it too late to avail of care.
“An experienced doctor would always encourage their patient to take additional time to make their decision if that is needed.
“But it is inappropriate and paternalistic to impose a waiting period on every person who seeks abortion care.”
In Ireland, women can have an abortion for any pregnancy that is less than 12 weeks - without having to explain their reason or decision.
Abortion care and specialist pregnancy counselling are free to Irish residents.
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