Carol Nolan: Opposing Removal of Three-Day Reflection Period
Carol Nolan opposes the bill and says removing the three-day reflection period would weaken protections for women and unborn children. She cites parliamentary returns showing 10,426 women did not return for a second appointment after the waiting period and calls any removal morally reckless.
Carol Nolan sets out her opposition on both conscientious and policy grounds, arguing the change would represent an impoverished health policy that fails to protect women and the unborn. She says the legislative intent behind the bill is deeply troubling.
Nolan highlights information released to her through parliamentary questions: over a five-year period 10,426 women did not return for a second appointment after the three-day wait, representing roughly 17 to 18 percent of cases. She presents this as evidence that the reflection period has played a life-saving role.
Nolan describes the proposed elimination of the three-day reflection period as a morally reckless extension of an abortion ideology and rejects the notion that voters gave legislators a blank cheque to remove protections for the unborn.
Rather than weakening safeguards, Nolan argues representatives should prioritise practical assistance and counselling for women in unplanned pregnancies. She stresses that no woman should be rushed into a life-changing decision while asserting her view that all children born and unborn have a fundamental right to life.
Opposition and rationale
Carol Nolan sets out her opposition on both conscientious and policy grounds, arguing the change would represent an impoverished health policy that fails to protect women and the unborn. She says the legislative intent behind the bill is deeply troubling.
Evidence on the waiting period
Nolan highlights information released to her through parliamentary questions: over a five-year period 10,426 women did not return for a second appointment after the three-day wait, representing roughly 17 to 18 percent of cases. She presents this as evidence that the reflection period has played a life-saving role.
Moral and legal concerns
Nolan describes the proposed elimination of the three-day reflection period as a morally reckless extension of an abortion ideology and rejects the notion that voters gave legislators a blank cheque to remove protections for the unborn.
Support for women
Rather than weakening safeguards, Nolan argues representatives should prioritise practical assistance and counselling for women in unplanned pregnancies. She stresses that no woman should be rushed into a life-changing decision while asserting her view that all children born and unborn have a fundamental right to life.
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Transcript
Go raibh maith agat, Cathaoirleach. I will be opposing this bill not merely on the grounds that I have profound conscientious difficulties and objection with the legislative intent driving it, but also because I sincerely believe that if it was implemented it would represent an impoverished health policy that would fail to protect women and of course the lives of unborn children that it will impact. In fact it was on the basis of information released to me through numerous parliamentary questions that we can confirm that the three-day wait period prior to having an abortion has played a critical and life-saving role in the lives of thousands. In fact over the five-year period since the law was introduced 10,426 women did not return for a second appointment after the three-day waiting period. This was between 17 and 18 percent of women. I have to be clear from where I stand any attempt to eliminate the three-day reflection period can now be seen for what it is, a morally reckless extension of an abortion ideology that many people find deeply troubling. Why the clamour for more and more abortion? Why the rush to annihilate all protections in the law for the baby in the womb? The Irish people did not give us a blank check to go on eliminating all protections for the unborn child until no such protections exist at all. They did not give us that blank check. To claim that they did is fundamentally flawed. As political representatives we should be prioritising the provision of positive support for women in unplanned pregnancy including access to practical assistance and counselling rather than seeking to weaken the existing protections. No woman should be rushed into a life-changing decision. But I am of the view that all children born and unborn have a fundamental right to life.