Renata Steffens
New legislation to ‘protect’ women going through abortion will come into operation next month. This new law will prohibit protests within 100 metres from any establishment providing services such as family planning.
The legislation called ‘Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Act 2024’ passed earlier this year and will be fully operating from October 17. “This draconian law will do nothing to help women in unplanned pregnancies,” said Eilis Mulroy, spokesperson for the Pro Life Campaign.
Ms Mulroy explained “this law criminalises any perceived attempt to influence one’s decision to have an abortion within a 100-metre zone of a premises where abortion could be provided. This includes every GP practice, maternity hospital, or family planning clinic in the country.”
“It isn’t about preventing ‘protests’, as it will criminalise the possibility of a woman receiving an offer of help when she might need it most.”
When the law passed last May, “Minister [for Health] Stephen Donnelly has said that he has ‘listened to women, to families, to health care professionals who unequivocally expressed their support for this Bill’.
“It appears Mr Donnelly has only been talking to a very narrow section of the public, such as State-funded campaign groups like the National Women’s Council,” Ms Mulroy has said.
Similarly, Independent Senator Rónán Mullen said during a debate on the Bill in the Seanad that Mr Donnelly “has got an easy win for himself by caving in to an activist group” and called the legislation a “sad piece of legislation.”
Ms Mulroy also said “many people, including medical and legal professionals, have expressed concerns about the impact of this draconian law on fundamental rights. However, Mr Donnelly has failed to engage with their concerns and instead appears to believe genuine fears about this law’s impact on freedom of expression can be papered over by just mouthing slogans.”