Paula spoke to Radio Kerry yesterday, after the Dáil voted to remove the 3-day waiting period. You can listen to the segment here. Below is the full transcript:

Jerry O’Sullivan: What’s your reaction first of all to the outcome of the vote?

Paula Dennan, Kerry for Choice spokesperson: Good morning Jerry, I’m actually really pleased that it passed because it is the first step to improving Ireland’s abortion legislation that was brought in in 2018 and services obviously became available in 2019 so this is the 7th year of women being able to access abortion services in Ireland. Which means we’ve had 3 day wait for 7 years and it is a barrier to accessing care particularly before the 12 week cut off. And we know from obviously figures released every year how many people in Ireland are having abortions but the UK Obviously continue to release their figures and we do know that women are still having to leave Ireland just to seek abortion care in the UK. Based on the most recent figures released form the UK, and I think the most recent figures released refer to 2023, we do know that that includes women form Kerry who are still having to make that journey and in some cases that is because they have timed out. Because of the 3 day wait period, by the time their second appoint comes around, they are passed the 12 weeks which means then have to travel.

J O’S: Do you think that that was reason enough to get rid of the 3 day wait?

PD: I do yes and when it was brought in, to be fair, I think and my understanding of it was that politicians were quite clear at the time in 2018, that there was no medical necessity for the 3 day wait. It was brought in to ease certain politicians who were you know, not entirely sure even after repeal passed how they felt about abortion, and this was put in there to allow them to, for whatever reason, feel comfortable against medical best practice with abortion suddenly if you force a woman to wait 3 days. The assumption there being that a woman rocks up to her doctor having put no thought into it whatsoever, which is just blatantly untrue, as multiple reports including the mandatory review of the legislation that happened in 2023 that was actually built into the legislation itself. One of their recommendations was that the 3 day wait was a significant barrier. This is just actually bringing the legislation in line with what the government’s own review stated – that the 3 day wait period was a barrier to people accessing care.

J O’S: And this is the independent review which was carried out, published a few years ago now, 2023, it recommended a wide range of changes including the decriminalisation of doctors in certain instances as well. The Sinn Féin bill only dealt with the 3 day wait period. What would you say Paula to, even with that in mind that it was problematic, that report found that was an independent report what would you say to the argument from a lot of our listeners this morning and from Minister Norma Foley who voted against this provision last night, that the 3 day period was implicit in getting this passed in 2018. That the people were asked, the referendum was carried and it was carried with that as a key part of it, that there would be this pause, this mandatory pause for anyone seeking abortion before 12 weeks. And to take it away now is changing the goal posts on the people who voted in favour in 2018?

PD: I would have two things to say to that, the first is that the only thing people voted on in 2018 was to insert into the constitution the ability for the Oireachtas to legislate on abortion. Yes we had a general heads of bill and we knew as a population what the majority of the legislation would look like. Obviously it then went through a committee stage and it changed things like that. But the only thing the Irish people voted on was inserting text into the constitution, everything else was up to the Oireachtas. And within that, built into that legislation, was the independent review. That review found that the 3 day waiting period was a barrier to care. So even if you accept that Irish people voted implicitly for the 3 day wait period because it was in the general heads of bill, the general heads of bill also included the ability to update the legislation based on the independent review. And that is what Sinn Féin’s bill does.

J O’S:  Ok that’s why you feel it was fair enough, that this was it was contained within that original review that it was. What about the point that other countries that have this type of legislation have wait periods, some of them 5 days, some of the 6 days even. What’s the harm in it, to give it consideration, give someone pause for it. I understand what you’re saying about the 12 weeks and timing out, but how many instances is that impact. Is that not just a very small number and the wider good of it is being lost to give someone a chance to reconsider and say, no actually I’m not going to go down this road, I’m going to carry the baby to term and give birth.

PD: The issue here is the mandatory aspect to that waiting period. Is that you are forcing somebody to do that. Speaking of other countries who have had mandatory periods, Spain removed theirs in 2023 and the Netherlands got rid of the mandatory aspect of their waiting period in 2022. So their legislation is built into the legislation should somebody want a reflection period, it is covered by the law. But it’s not mandatory anymore. It is the mandatory aspect that is the issue because the assumption again, is that a woman turns up to her GP or another GP or you know if her own GP doesn’t provide abortion services, not knowing her own mind. And that’s the biggest issue here is the mandatory aspect of the waiting period. Like everything else, when you see a doctor usually you have an idea of why you are there. But in the case of someone seeking an abortion, you have made the appointment because you want the abortion. To have a three day wait period forced on you, and that’s what the mandatory aspect does, its extremely demeaning. Because the assumption is that you wandered in there not really knowing your own mind. That you haven’t thought about it, you just phoned the number and made the appointment without thinking it through and that is, honestly, frankly, a terrible way of thinking of Irish women.

J O’S: So you think they have made their decision, the person isn’t , you know, has fully considered everything. What would you say to the issue that very often or sometimes, this can be a period of shock and crises and that is not the case and that’s not what it is assuming. It’s just giving the 3 days, once they’ve made their decision, giving them space to calmly and quietly consider. They have to spend the 3 days, they know why, they’re been told why they have to spend the 3 days. So that gives them a chance to say, ok is this really what I want to do?

PD: Again, why is the assumption that that has not happened before the first appointment was made. I fully understand people if it is, you know, an unplanned pregnancy, that there is an element of shock involved. But most people will not have made the initial phone call immediately after they have received a positive pregnancy test, they will have considered their options and thought about it before they make the first appointment. So they have already put in the thought process of is this what I want.

J O’S: Ok and that is the consideration for your saying this is what needs to happen. Do you understand the position being put forward, do you understand why several senior ministers including Norma Foley and so many Fine Gael  and Fianna Fáil TD’s voted against this. They are representing the views of a lot of people who are contacting them who are angry at this change. Or not happy and they maybe perhaps those people feel this is the thin edge of the wedge, other changes will be coming and abortion will be more liberalised against their wishes

PD: I do understand that position, I disagree with the position but I understand it. And being honest and speaking on behalf of Kerry For Choice I hope this is the thin edge of the wedge. I hope that the other recommendations of the independent review of the legislation that was legally mandated by the legislation itself through the O Shea report that was published in 2023. It made many more recommendations apart from removing the 3 day wait and I hope those are also implemented.

J O’S: Do you think this whole area needs to be looked at? There was meant to be a task force set up in fact to work on this it hasn’t been yet, does that need to happen?

PD:  I’ll be honest, I think politicians need to do their job and if that involves a task force yes, but if a task force is just an effort to be seen to do something, without following through on the legislation, then is it necessary? If you know what I mean. I can see both sides of that, but I do think it is again, the only thing people voted for in 2018, while we knew the general heads of bill, the only thing we actually voted for was the insertion of a clause into the constitution to give the Oireachtas the power to legislate. And that is what they are now currently doing. They are legislating, in this instance, based on the results of the independent review that was also built into the legislation. So even if people only Voted yes because they knew what the legislation would look like, implicit in that, in fact, not implicit, explicit in that, was the ability to improve the legislation based on new information. And that’s what this is, removing the mandatory 3 day wait is that the mandatory aspect does not work. That is the new information based on the report. Although I will say that it’s not new information to a lot of us who pointed out the issue with it at the beginning. But again, it is new information based on the independent review and so therefore the Oireachtas yesterday were actually doing their job. And they were doing what they were empowered to do by Repeal in 2018. Which was to legislate for abortion services in Ireland.

J O’S: Ok allright Paula, thanks for your views on that. That’s Paula Dennan there who is Kerry for Choice Spokesperson in this county reacting to Sinn Féin’s bill which was passed by a majority of TD’s in the Oireachtas, 86 to 70 to remove the mandatory 3 day waiting period before a woman accesses an abortion before 12 weeks in this country.