Abortion has officially become legal in the Republic of Ireland after president Michael D Higgins signed new legislation into law.

Terminations will be available across from the state from January 2019.

A bill to legalise abortions in Ireland passed through all its parliamentary stages earlier this month.

President Higgins signed the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018 on Thursday and it has accordingly become law.

The new laws will allow for unrestricted access to abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, subject to a cooling-off period and a requirement for medical consultation.

After 12 weeks, abortions will be permitted in exceptional circumstances.

The legislation will give effect to the result of a referendum in May.

The poll delivered landslide support for the repeal of a section of the state’s constitution – the Eight Amendment – that provided the legal basis for the country’s near blanket ban on abortion.

Last month Health Minister Simon Harris welcomed the passage of the bill through the houses of the Oireachtas parliament “as a genuinely historic moment”. </s> Abortion will be legal in Ireland for the first time after President Michael D Higgins signed the new Bill governing the termination of pregnancies into law.

Women will have access to abortion on request up to 12 weeks and on restricted grounds from January 1.

The referendum on repealing the eighth amendment in May saw over 66% voting in favour, paving the way for ground-breaking new abortion legislation.

The Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018 was proposed by the government and passed through the Dail earlier this month after weeks of intense debate.

President Higgins completed the process as he signed the legislation into law at Áras an Uachtaráin on Thursday evening, ensuring that it will come into effect from the start of next year.

Health Minister Simon Harris described the passing of the Bill as the beginning of a "new journey".

He told the Irish Times: "This is a genuinely historic moment. It paves the way for the implementation of the service for termination of pregnancy in January 2019.

"The passage of the legislation allows for the beginning of a new journey. It is the start of a new era for women’s healthcare."

Amnesty Ireland's Sorcha Tunney meanwhile described the moment as "historic".

She said: “We welcome Ireland’s new abortion law as both a historical milestone for this country and an inspiration for millions of people globally.

"Ireland’s abortion law was one of the most restrictive in the world, and today that is finally ending.

“Today is also a day to reflect on where we have come from. For over 35 years, women and girls have been denied access to safe and legal abortion beyond when their life was at risk.

"Hundreds of thousands of women and girls were forced to travel, forced into secrecy and shame. They were gravely denied their human rights.

“In May, the people of Ireland voted by a landslide for access to abortion care based on a pregnant person’s right to make decisions about her pregnancy, and her health.

"People clearly see it for the human rights issue that it is. And for Ireland to move from a near total ban on abortion to access on request is a huge win in the global campaign for reproductive rights.” </s> PRESIDENT OF IRELAND Michael D Higgins has signed the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill into law, making abortion services legal in Ireland.

The new legislation passed through all stages of the Oireachtas this month, completing its passage in the Seanad.

The Act allows for terminations of pregnancy up to 12 weeks. It also provides for terminations where there is a risk to the life or a serious risk to the health of the pregnant woman.

Women who have been given a diagnosis of fatal foetal abnormalities will now be able to legally avail of early termination of pregnancy in the hospital they are being treated in.

The general scheme of the bill was drafted ahead of May’s referendum on the Eighth Amendment when the Irish electorate voted by 66.4% to 33.6% to remove the constitutional ban on abortion services.

Thanking campaigners who had “fought for 35 years to change a nation, to change hearts and minds”, Health Minister Simon Harris called the passing of the bill though the Oireachtas as a “genuinely historic moment”.

“I want to thank the minority who fought the battle in here when it was convenient for the majority to ignore,” he added.

More than 170,000 women and girls have travelled from Ireland to another country for an abortion since 1980, with the vast majority going to Britain.

Over 3,000 women travelled to the England and Wales for abortions last year, while many others bought abortion pills online.

Abortion services are expected to being next month. However, some doctors and hospitals have said they are unlikely to be ready to provide terminations in January. </s> President Michael D Higgins has signed the legislation to allow for abortion services in Ireland into law.

It comes a week after the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018 completed its passage through the Dáil.

Health Minister Simon Harris said it's an 'historic day'.

It means the law now allows abortion services to be legally available in Ireland from January 1st.

The legislation will allow abortions for up to 12 weeks into a pregnancy, and in very limited circumstances - such as when there is a risk to the life of the pregnant woman - after that.

In May, the Irish people voted by 66.9% to 33.1% to repeal the Eighth Amendment and allow the Oireachtas to legislate for abortion services here.

Abortion services are not expected to be available in a full fashion throughout the country from January 1st, although are set to become more widely available as more medical professionals are trained.

GPs were yesterday issued with clinical guidelines for the services, with the Irish College of General Practitioners stressing that any doctor who does not wish to provide the service will not be asked to do so. </s> AbAbortion is now legal in Ireland.

The Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Bill has been signed into law by President Michael D. Higgins.

More than 3 thousand doctors were issued with clinical guidelines on abortion services yesterday.

GPs will be able to provide terminations via medication for women who are under 9 weeks pregnant.

A woman will have three consultations with the doctor with a 3-day delay between the first and second meeting. </s> Abortion has become officially legal in Ireland after President Michael D Higgins signed the Bill into law today.

The Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018 will allow access to abortion on request for up to 12 weeks and on restricted grounds beyond this from January 1.

More than 3,000 doctors were issued with clinical guidelines on abortion services yesterday.

GPs will be able to provide terminations via medication for women who are under nine weeks pregnant.

A woman will have three consultations with the doctor with a three-day delay between the first and second meeting.

Amnesty International welcomed the signing into law of the Bill, saying it was a "historical milestone" for Ireland.

“We welcome Ireland’s new abortion law as both a historical milestone for this country and an inspiration for millions of people globally," said Sorcha Tunney, Campaign Coordinator of It’s Time campaign for Amnesty International Ireland.

"Ireland’s abortion law was one of the most restrictive in the world, and today that is finally ending.”

“Today is also a day to reflect on where we have come from. For over 35 years, women and girls have been denied access to safe and legal abortion beyond when their life was at risk. Hundreds of thousands of women and girls were forced to travel, forced into secrecy and shame. They were gravely denied their human rights.

"We look forward to the full implementation of the Act but will be looking to engage with the Department of Health in its three-year review. We will continue our campaigning to make sure the law is human rights compliant, and that pregnant people are not prevented from accessing the healthcare they need,” Ms Tunney said. </s> The Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) will start providing legal abortion services from January 7, it has confirmed.

The announcement comes a day after abortion officially became legal in the Republic of Ireland after President Michael D Higgins signed new legislation into law.

A bill to legalise abortions in Ireland passed through all its parliamentary stages earlier this month.

The IFPA said it has completed its preparations for the introduction of abortion services and will provide abortion care at its clinics in Dublin city centre and Tallaght on Monday January 7.

On Thursday, President Higgins signed the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018.

The new laws will allow for unrestricted access to abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, subject to a cooling-off period and a requirement for medical consultation.

After 12 weeks, abortions will be permitted in exceptional circumstances.

The legislation will give effect to the result of a referendum in May.

The poll delivered landslide support for the repeal of a section of the state’s constitution – the Eighth Amendment – that provided the legal basis for the country’s near-blanket ban on abortion.

Niall Behan, IFPA chief executive, said: “Preparing our abortion service has been the focus of our work since the referendum.

“We’re ready and we’re dedicated to providing abortion care to women in Ireland for the first time.”

Mr Behan said the IFPA was proud to be at the “vanguard of the new services” after its long campaign for abortion rights.

“The IFPA has been advocating for full reproductive healthcare in Ireland for 50 years,” he added.

“The organisation was founded at a time when even basic contraception was illegal in this country.

“We’re now at a place where we can provide safe and legal abortion care for women and girls in Ireland and this is truly momentous. We’ve been working hard to ensure that we can deliver the best possible care.

“This is an entirely new service, developed in the extremely tight timeframe set by the Minister for Health (Simon Harris).

“The onus is on the Department of Health and the HSE to ensure that women who seek abortion care have timely access and don’t encounter any barriers.”

IFPA medical director, Dr Caitriona Henchion said: “Our abortion care service can only begin as planned if the medication and pregnancy tests are supplied on time, and the protocols for rhesus testing and the provision of anti-D are finalised.

“Our clinics will be providing early medical abortions up to nine weeks’ gestation.

“Patients who have their first appointment with us and are between nine and 12 weeks pregnant will need to be referred for hospital care.

“We cannot arrange those first appointments until we are certain those referral pathways are in place.” </s> A Bill that will give women access to abortion for the first time in the history of the State has been signed into law by President Michael D Higgins.

A statement released by Áras an Uachtaráin on Thursday evening said: “Having considered the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018, the President has signed the Bill and it has accordingly become law.”

The Bill finished its final stage in the Seanad earlier this month after weeks of sometimes heated debate in both the Dáil and Seanad. It follows a referendum in May on the removal of the Eighth Amendment from the Constitution, which guaranteed the unborn and mother an equal right to life. Some 67 per cent of the electorate voted to repeal the amendment.

Minister for Health Simon Harris will now have to sign a number of statutory instruments to give effect to the Bill now that it is signed into law by the President.

The Bill was signed by the President as the Medical Council deleted provisions from its code which will mean that no ethical guidance on performing abortions will be in place for doctors when the legislation comes into force next month.

Having considered the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018, the President has signed the Bill and it has accordingly become law. — President of Ireland (@PresidentIRL) December 20, 2018

Conflicted

The council took the decision to delete four of the five paragraphs dealing with abortion from its guide on professional conduct and ethics because they conflicted with the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act.

The decision was taken at a specially convened meeting on Wednesday night. The council is updating the ethical guide but this process will not be ready in time for the introduction of abortion services on January 1st.

Two of the four deleted paragraphs state that a doctor has an ethical duty to make every reasonable effort to protect the life and health of pregnant women and their unborn babies; and that in exceptional circumstances, it may be necessary to terminate the pregnancy to protect the life of the mother while making every effort to preserve the life of the baby. The other two deal with situations where there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the woman, and the provision of information for abortions abroad.

Slightly edited

The remaining paragraph remains in place, slightly edited to change the reference from “abortion” to “termination of pregnancy”. It states that doctors “have a duty to provide care, support and follow-up for women who have had a termination of pregnancy”.

The council plans to write to all 23,000 registered doctors in the State to inform them of the changes to the guide.

“We are currently engaging in a very comprehensive process to update the Medical Council guidelines having only recently closed a consultation with doctors and key stakeholders in which over 1,400 responses were received,” said Dr Suzanne Crowe, chair of the council’s ethics working group.

“Today’s announcement ensures that our ethical guidance is not in conflict with the new legislation and provides reassurance to doctors who are involved in delivering this service.”

Reviewed

Aside from the paragraphs on abortions, sections of the guide dealing with “dignity of the patient”, “equality and diversity” and “conscientious objection” are being reviewed.

Once a new wording is finalised, the council will again consult with doctors and other stakeholders, but this would not happen before the legislation comes into force, Dr Crowe said. </s> A member of the public holds a sign in favor of abortion rights in Dublin, on May 25, 2018.

DUBLIN — Irish voters overwhelmingly backed a repeal of Ireland's constitutional ban on abortion in a sweeping cultural change representing a move away from the nation's conservative Catholic roots.

The final tally showed that 66.4% supported the repeal out of 2.1 million votes cast on Friday according to election official Barry Ryan.

Donegal was the only county to vote "no," with 51.9% voting against the repeal and 48.1% in favor.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar called the result the culmination of a “quiet revolution.”

“The people have spoken,” said Varadkar, a medical doctor who campaigned for repeal in the historic referendum. “The people have said that we want a modern constitution for a modern country, that we trust women and we respect them to make the right decision and the right choices about their health care.”

As a result of the vote, Ireland's government will now seek to pass legislation that allows abortions during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The current law prohibits all abortions in Ireland, except in cases when the woman’s life is at risk, and having an illegal abortion is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

For thousands of Irish women, the repeal will end their need to travel abroad – mostly to neighboring Britain – for abortions.

Supporters of the repeal were jubilant, particularly at Dublin’s Intercontinental hotel, where the Together For Yes group,buoyed by exit polls, was celebrating its apparent victory.

“This is a monumental day for women in Ireland,” said Orla O’Connor, co-director of the Together for Yes group. “This is about women taking their rightful place in Irish society, finally.”

The vote is a “rejection of an Ireland that treated women as second-class citizens,” she said, adding: “This is about women’s equality and this day brings massive change, monumental change for women in Ireland, and there is no going back.”

More than 1,000 people gathered outside Dublin Castle, singing, chanting, and toasting one another with champagne as they waited for the official announcement.

John McGuirk, spokesman for the Save the 8th group, told Irish television Saturday that many Irish citizens will not recognize the country they are waking up in. The group said on its website that Irish voters have created a “tragedy of historic proportions,” but McGuirk said the vote must be respected.

“You can still passionately believe that the decision of the people is wrong, as I happen to do, and accept it,” he said.

More: Abortion ban vote chance to throw off oppressing legacy of Catholic Ireland

Related: Ireland to be tested by abortion vote on whether to overturn near-total ban

John Aidan Byrne, 58, an Irishman who has lived in the United States for more than 30 years and runs a group called Irish Pro-Life USA, said that doing away with the ban would mean "fewer protections" for his friends and family in Ireland.

"Once you introduce legalized abortion it changes the entire dynamic of society. And it divides it politically, socially and — let's be frank — spiritually," he said.

But others viewed the vote as evidence that Ireland, for years held back by traditional voices in the church, was embracing tolerance and progressiveness as well as continuing down a path of liberalization after national votes in recent years that ushered in legalizing contraception, divorce, homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

"We woke up this morning to a new Ireland. Ireland’s changed," said Deidre Duffy, one the organizers of the campaign to change Ireland's abortion law.

"One by one, the manacles imposed by clerical control and society's deference to it have been removed, and Ireland has altered beyond recognition," said Martina Devlin in a column for the Irish Independent newspaper Saturday.

Lawyer Anna McCarthy, 35, was standing near a Dublin mural on Saturday of Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old Indian dentist who died in Galway in 2012 due to blood poisoning resulting from a miscarriage after she was denied an abortion.

"This is something to be celebrated," McCarthy said.

"Finally, we're not shaming women, we're not punishing them, or judging them — we're just going to have a law that supports people in crisis. This is a win for everybody."

Messages of condolence were affixed to a wall next to the image of Halappanavar.

"This should NEVER have happened to you," read one. "Our babies were only six weeks apart, you inspired me and the whole nation to say NEVER AGAIN."

Repealing Ireland's Eighth Amendment that gives equal protection to a fetus and the woman would bring the once-staunchly Catholic country in line with abortion practices in the United States and the majority of Europe.

It would leave only three places in Europe where abortion is illegal unless the woman's life is at risk: tiny Andorra and San Marino, and Malta. Four countries around the world do not allow abortions under any circumstances, according to the Pew Research Center. They are the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Vatican City.

"It’s a very emotional day," said Simon Harris, Ireland’s minister for health, speaking to media at Dublin Castle, where the results of the vote will be announced.

More: World watches as Ireland holds historic vote to overturn strict abortion law

"Over the last 20-30 years the idea of Ireland as a Catholic country has been changing," said Mary McAuliffe, a gender studies expert at University College Dublin.

"We're no longer an isolated country on the edge of Europe hidebound by outdated ideas about morality, femininity and controlling women's bodies," she said. </s> Ireland is to hold a referendum on abortion in 2018, it has been announced.

A decision on the eighth amendment, which gives equal right to life to the unborn, will take place in May or June next year, according to Prime Minister Leo Varadkar’s government.

The public will then decide if abortion should be legalised “in almost all cases”.

We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 USD 0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.

The move comes after a long fight by campaigners to “repeal the 8th”, which caught international attention. It also comes before the sixth annual March for Choice demonstrations in Dublin and London on Saturday.

Claire McGowran, a volunteer with London-Irish Abortion Rights Campaign, told The Independent that they were waiting for an exact date and the wording of the referendum question and were ready to start a year of campaigning.

"Our ideal is that the eighth amendment is completely repealed, and not replaced," she said. "The very minimum is that it's not confusing anymore and gives free, safe abortions to women in Ireland regardless of how they became pregnant."

The United Nations Human Rights Committee called last July for the country’s abortion bans to be reversed.

Abortion Rights Campaign wrote on its website to advertise the march on Saturday: “This year we have learned of young children sectioned under the Mental Health Act for seeking abortions, of suicidal women denied access to the abortion they’re entitled to under the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act because their doctor doesn’t think they’re ‘suicidal enough’.

“Meanwhile in Northern Ireland women continue to be prosecuted for procuring their own abortions, even though the push to decriminalise abortion is growing in the rest of the UK.

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“We need full repeal of the 8th Amendment in the Republic of Ireland, and proper legislation in Northern Ireland. We need access to free, safe and legal abortion for all who need or want it. And we need it now.”

Thousands of women seeking an abortion have had to travel to the UK every year to get the procedure, which is legal under Westminster, but Irish women have had to pay up to £4,000 for travel, accommodation and medical costs.

Ireland, a predominantly Catholic country, currently has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe. The eighth amendment was voted in a time when contraception was also illegal in Ireland.

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A woman can face 14 years in prison for taking abortion pills which can be ordered online.

Terminating a pregnancy is only allowed under extremely rare circumstances where the mother’s life is in danger. This provision to protect the mother was voted into the Constitution in the 1980s by a large majority in another referendum.

However, referendums have recently led to progressive social change, for example, same sex marriage was legalised in 2015.

Various high-profile cases of women seeking bodily autonomy have forced the issue into the spotlight.

The UN committee focused on Amanda Mellet, who was 21 weeks pregnant when she was told that her baby would die in the womb or shortly after birth. She got an abortion in the UK but could not afford to stay long, and was forced to have her baby’s ashes flown to her separately.

In March, women across the country went on strike for a day, wearing black, to protest the laws. The campaign group, Strike 4 Repeal, was inspired by similar protests in Poland in 2016, where women took to the streets, waving coat hangers as a powerful symbol of women who were at serious risk via underground and illegal procedures.
Irish President Michael D. Higgins signs a bill making abortion legal in the Republic of Ireland for the first time.