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European context demonstrates how Ireland can work toward a better reproductive healthcare system for women

Published: Wednesday, November 08, 2017

As discussions at the Oireachtas Committee focus on Ireland’s abortion laws as an outlier in Europe, the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) today said Ireland needs to work toward a healthcare system that provides for the needs and life decisions of all women.

Orla O’Connor, Director of NWCI said,
“Presentations at the Oireachtas Committee today demonstrated how Ireland can work toward a healthcare system where the healthcare needs and life decisions of all women are being provided for.  International experts detailed how the overwhelming majority of European countries allow for abortion for all women who need it, in early pregnancy. Moreover, the presentations highlighted how in almost all these 40 countries, once the time-period for legal abortion when a woman needs it ends, women can access abortion care for one or more exceptional reasons also specified in laws or regulations.”

Orla O’Connor concluded,
“Women’s access to reproductive healthcare is fundamental to their life decisions, and the decisions of their family. What was overwhelmingly clear today was how women have abortions for a number of very diverse reasons, and how all of these decisions are deeply private.  We must acknowledge that no woman takes these decisions lightly and in Ireland, and move the conversation away from focussing on simply abortion and restrictions. Instead, we must work to provide healthcare services that acknowledge the complexity of difficult and personal decisions a woman may face.”


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Notes to the Editor:
The National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) is Ireland’s national women’s membership organisation representing 180 member groups and a growing number of individual members. We develop and promote policies and measures that are based on the diverse experiences of women. We work to ensure women’s equal access, participation and recognition in Irish society.