Reproductive Rights (Amendment) Bill 2026: Second Stage [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-13
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Ken O'Flynn (II), Cork North-Central

Yet, there was an argument before this House that does not remark on the tragedy of the loss of 10,000 human lives. The argument is that there is too much time to hesitate and we must remove that time. If the position of the Social Democrats is a moral certainty, then the question for it is why is it afraid of three days? That is three days for reflection, three days for people to speak to their family, three days to seek counselling and three days to escape the panic, fear, coercion or pressure that person may be put under. The reality is that for many women facing crisis pregnancies, those decisions they are making are not in calm circumstances. Some are very frightened, some are abandoned, some are financially desperate, some are under intense emotional pressure and some believe they have no supports or no alternatives available to them. Instead of this House building a society that says we will help them, stand beside them and be there because they and their child matter, the answer increasingly offered by the State is remove the pause and accelerate the process.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-13/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:03+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-13