On Wednesday, a bill was defeated in the Irish parliament that sought to abolish the mandatory three-day waiting period before an abortion.

Proposed by the Social Democrats, the Reproductive Rights (Amendment) Bill 2026 was defeated by 85 votes to 30, with 36 abstentions. The bill was a free vote as abortion is considered a conscience issue.

Alongside the waiting period, the bill would have also removed criminal sanctions currently contained in the law, which Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said would have amounted to “blanket decriminalization.” 

It also sought to change the law in cases involving fetal abnormalities, which currently stipulates doctors must certify it likely that the baby would die within 28 days of birth. 

The Social Democrats proposed removing the reference to 28 days and replacing it with a statement that there is “fatal condition affecting the fetus.”

The Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), Micheál Martin, said there were “significant flaws” in the proposed bill, and added that it would undermine “the entire legislative template that was enacted post the referendum.”

Martin also said there was no “collective party position or Government position” on the bill and called decriminalization “highly problematic.”

A private member’s bill “isn’t the most effective way of dealing with a complex issue like this,” he added.

“The lives of thousands of children will be saved as a result of this Bill being defeated today,” Peadar Tóibín, leader of conservative political party Aontú, said.

Holly Cairns, the leader of the Social Democrats, had previously called the three-day waiting period “patronizing and paternalistic”, a notion Tóibín rejected. 

“[Abortion is] often one of the biggest decisions that any woman could make in her life. It is an irreversible decision. We believe it is compassionate to provide a period of time for a woman to reflect in relation to proceeding to an abortion or not,” he said.

Ahead of Tuesday’s debate, Cairns spoke out against the reports that the Department of Health had raised concerns about some of the provisions in the legislation.

“All of the amendments in my legislation come from an expert review of the current law, which was commissioned by the Government and published three years ago,” she said.

“It should also be noted that the World Health Organisation is in favor of decriminalization and the removal of mandatory wait periods, meaning Ireland is out of step with international best practice,” she added.

Pro-life activists pleased with the result

Eilís Mulroy, spokesperson of Pro Life Campaign Ireland, reacted to Wednesday’s result. “Tonight, we give thanks for a wonderful result. We will keep working to fight for mothers and their unborn babies,” she said.

“The defeat of the Social Democrats’ bill to abolish the life-saving three-day wait and widen the grounds for late-term abortion was hard-fought and is a very encouraging result. With the heartbreaking tragedy of 1 in 6 pregnancies now ending in abortion in Ireland, the Social Democrats pushed things too far tonight – and they got their answer,” she added.

In May 2018, Ireland voted overwhelmingly in favour of changing the constitution and reforming the abortion laws. The referendum passed by 66.4% to 33.6% to repeal the Eighth Amendment – a constitutional amendment from 1983 that guaranteed the right to life for the unborn, making abortion illegal unless the pregnancy was life-threatening. 

According to the Department of Health, in 2024, there were 10,852 abortions in Ireland and in 2023, there were 10,033. Since 2019, when the legislation allowing abortion came into effect, there have been 48,984 abortions.

In 2022, according to figures from the Department of Health, 10,779 women sought an initial abortion consultation yet there were only 8,156 abortions occurred that year. Supporters of the three-day waiting period therefore argue that 2,623 women did not follow through after the reflection period.

Mulroy pointed out that some politicians who voted against the bill also support a different pro-abortion bill proposed by Sinn Féin that will be debated at another time.

“So our work is never done. But tonight, we are thankful for an excellent outcome. We will keep striving to build a more welcoming and supportive society for women experiencing unplanned pregnancies and their unborn babies,” she said.