Legislation to provide for abortion services in Ireland approved by Cabinet

The legislation to provide for abortion in Ireland has been approved by Cabinet.

The Health Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Bill went before Cabinet earlier today and was successfully approved. This will allow for legal abortion in Ireland without specific indication up until 12 weeks gestation. The law will also allow for access to abortion services where there is a substantial risk to the life of the mother, or where there is chance of Fatal Foetal Abnormality (FFA). RTE reports that Simon Harris called today "very important" for women in Ireland. This comes after the Minister for Health said that abortion services would be free once they were introduced early next year. He said he wanted to ensure that everybody could avail of the services. He said:

"I've said from the start that I don't want cost to be a barrier, because if cost is a barrier you get into a situation where one of two things happen - you get abortion clinics to develop or you can see people having to continue to travel. "I want this to be provided as part of our healthcare system, our public healthcare system and part of our primary healthcare system."

The Health Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Bill will go before the Dáil next week where it will be debated.