Letter to the editor from Maeve Taylor, IFPA director of advocacy and communications. Published in The Irish Times May 21, 2026.
Sir, – As Breda O’Brien notes, recent coverage of abortion reform has tended to focus more on the mandatory waiting period than other proposals.
The waiting period is certainly not the only flaw in the law. The restrictive gestation limit, the narrow grounds for access for health and foetal anomaly reasons, and the chilling effect of the criminal provisions impose barriers to access. They force women to seek abortion care outside of Ireland.
The mandatory waiting period has material consequences. The Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) knows from our services that it causes significant stress, distress and delay. It cannot be waived and, in some cases, pushes women over the 12-week threshold for access.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends against enforced delay provisions. A WHO review of studies published between 2010 and 2020 found no health benefits. Rather, the evidence showed that mandatory waiting periods are experienced negatively, as a restriction on access to abortion.
IFPA data aligns with this finding. The vast majority (98 per cent) of those who attend for a first consultation go on to have an abortion.
Between 2021 and 2024, a total of 2,390 clients had a first abortion consultation. Of these, 4.1 per cent no longer needed abortion due to miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy or a negative pregnancy test. And 104 clients (4.3 per cent) made no further contact after their first appointment.
Of the remaining 2,187 clients who were subjected to the mandatory waiting period, 98 per cent (2,146 clients) then accessed abortion care – 88.5 per cent (1,936 clients) accessed abortion care at the IFPA, while 9.6 per cent (210 clients) availed of hospital- or GP-based services. Under 2 per cent continued the pregnancy.
Nothing in our data indicates that the three-day wait influences women’s decisions about pregnancy. Abortion is the only healthcare service on which the law imposes a waiting period.
In all other circumstances, healthcare providers are trusted to ensure informed consent, patients are trusted to know their own minds, and treatment is begun as soon as possible.
The mandatory waiting period is an unacceptable, demeaning and patronising infringement on reproductive rights. Removing it is not enough to resolve the harms of the law; however, it is a necessary step towards respect for reproductive autonomy. – Yours, etc,
MAEVE TAYLOR,
Director of Advocacy and Communications,
Irish Family Planning Association,
Dublin 2.