Health Minister Simon Harris is expected to brief the Cabinet today on an accelerated timetable for the creation of Ireland's abortion legislation.
Ireland voted Yes to repeal the Eighth Amendment and legalise abortion by 66.40% in the May 25th referendum.
Following the vote, Minister Harris said he wants to move quickly to pass the law to allow women to have abortions in Ireland up to 12 weeks’ gestation, and only in certain cases thereafter, such as in a case of fatal foetal abnormality, or if the pregnancy is a risk to a woman’s life or health.
Minister Harris is due to present a plan to have abortion legislation published in the next six weeks, before the Dail summer recess.
Both houses of the Oireachtas will debate the bill before it is sent to President Michael D Higgins to be signed. This is expected to happen by the autumn. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that he hopes for the bill to become law by the end of the year, once clinical guidelines are drawn up and plans are made to regulate abortion pills.
Following Saturday’s result, spokesperson for Doneal Together for Yes Sinead Stewart said: “We expect all TD’s in the county to now respect the vote of the nation and to bring in the proposed legislation that will provide a GP led abortion health care service in Ireland.”
She added that the group will work to ensure legislation is passed as soon as possible and will join the women of Northern Ireland who are campaigning to legalise abortion.
