People Before Profit has defeated the Government in a Dáil vote calling for wider access to abortion after coalition TDs were given a free vote.
The party tabled a Bill to Amend the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 to provide for abortion on request prior to foetal viability.
It also called for the three-day waiting period in between when a woman requests a termination and is given the medication to be abolished, as well as allowing for abortion on grounds of fatal foetal abnormality that is likely to lead to the death of the foetus either before or within a year of birth.
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It will also allow for abortion where there is a risk to the life, or serious harm to the health, of the pregnant woman.
Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party all allowed their TDs and Ministers to vote however they wished on the matter.
The first vote centred on a countermotion from Health Minister Stephen Donnelly calling for the legislation to be examined in a year's time. The Government lost this vote 74 votes to 61 as 12 Government TDs voted in line with the opposition.
The second vote on the evening centred on the People Before Profit proposal of extending care. The Government also lost this division 64 votes to 67, with eight TDs abstaining.
All members of the Green Party voted in favour of the People Before Profit bill, with the exception of party leader Eamon Ryan who chose to abstain. Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman, Culture Minister Catherine Martin, Minister of State Ossian Smyth, Minister of State Joe O’Brien, Minister of State Malcolm Noonan, Francis Noel Duffy, Brian Leddin, Stephen Matthews, Patrick Costello and Marc O Cathaisaigh all voted in line with People Before Profit.
Fianna Fáil Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien and Health Minister Stephen Donnelly both chose to abstain.
Fine Gael Minister of State Neale Richmond voted in favour of the People Before Profit legislation, while his party colleague Emer Higgins abstained.
A number of Fianna Fáil TDs chose to abstain. This included Paul McAuliffe, John Lahart, Jim O'Callaghan and Christoper O’Sullivan.
The Bill has now passed to second stage, where it will be discussed by the relevant Oireachtas Committee.
Following the vote, People Before Profit's Brid Smith, who had proposed the Bill said that it was a "great day for the movement for choice and for women's healthcare".
She continued: "But it is only the start. We have to keep the pressure on so that this bill can become law, so that we can remove the three day waiting period and decriminalise abortion in this country.
"Women cannot wait anymore for modern reproductive healthcare in Ireland."
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