Press release
Minister for Health commences Phase one of the Review of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD, has today commenced the Review of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Act) 2018.
The 2018 Act specifically provides for a review of the operation of the Act, which sets our four different types of situations in which a termination of pregnancy can occur under Irish law. Under the Act, the review must be initiated before January 1, 2022.
The Terms of Reference of the Review, which will be led by an independent Chair, are detailed in the notes below.
As part of the first phase of the review, Minister Donnelly has announced a public consultation on the operation of the health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018. The public consultation will provide an opportunity for members of the public, organisations, stakeholders, advocacy groups working in the area and all other interested parties to inform the review of the operation of the legislation.
The review of the operation of the Act will also comprise detailed examination of the views and experiences of service users and service providers. Research to inform the service user strand is being carried out by Dr Catherine Conlon, Associate Professor, Trinity College, who is progressing a large qualitative study to analyse unplanned pregnancy and abortion care.
This study, which was commissioned by the HSE’s Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme, will generate an in-depth understanding of the experiences of women who have accessed abortion care services since the commencement of the Act.
Separate to this, a request for tenders to carry out research into the views of service providers has also been published on the eTenders website today, 8 December 2021.
Following this procurement process, the Chair will assess the extent to which the objectives of the Act have been achieved, analysing in that regard the findings of the three strands of information, on the operation of the Act. The Chair will also draw on the findings of other relevant peer-reviewed research and consult further with stakeholders as necessary before providing conclusions and any recommendations to the Minister in 2022.
Speaking of the launch of the public consultation, Minister Donnelly said:
“I am pleased that we are progressing this important Review of an Act that was passed following the result of an historic referendum. We are now specifically seeking people’s views on the operation of the legislation. Separate in-depth qualitative research will consider the operation of the Act specifically from the service user and from the service provider perspectives, but service users and service providers are also most welcome to contribute their views through this public consultation process.”
Minister Donnelly concluded:
“When the Chair has completed their work in 2022, a final report will be submitted to me with any necessary recommendations. I look forward to hearing people’s views and to the outcome of this review process.”
Further information on the public consultation exercise is available here: www.gov.ie/TOPreview
Section 7 of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 states that:
“The Minister shall, not later than 3 years after the commencement of this section, carry out a review of the operation of this Act.”
The review clause was included in the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 in order to facilitate monitoring of the impact, operation, and effectiveness of the legislation in practice, as well as of the delivery of services in the area.
The Programme for Government – Our Shared Future (2020), at page 48, notes:
“…the review, as required under Section 7 of the Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Act 2018, which will take place in 2021.”
The main purpose of the Act of 2018 is to set out the law governing access to termination of pregnancy in Ireland. It permits termination to be carried out in cases where there is a risk to the life, or of serious harm to the health, of the pregnant woman, including in an emergency; where there is a condition present which is likely to lead to the death of the foetus either before or within 28 days of birth; and without restriction up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
The department now wishes to commission a review of the operation of the Act of 2018.
The Act of 2018 Act sets out four different types of situations in which a termination of pregnancy can lawfully occur.
The independent Chair will:
o service provision in the community setting
o service provision in the acute hospital setting
The Review will be informed by three key streams of information:
1. Service users
For the review to be effective, in exploring women’s experience, it will be vital to gather the views of service users, to find out whether the legislation provides access to termination of pregnancy services in practice to those who wish to avail of them. In this regard, independent research exploring women’s experiences of termination of pregnancy services and gathering their views on how the system has operated since 1 January 2019 will be essential.
In this regard, the review will draw on the findings of the HSE Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme’s large-scale qualitative research study into women’s experiences of abortion and unplanned pregnancy support services since the implementation of the health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 on 1 January 2019.
Women’s experience of accessing the service may also be captured though the public consultation process (point 3 below).
2. Service Provision
Information from service providers will provide the second key information strand for the review. In order to assess whether the Act is operating effectively in practice, it will be necessary to gather the views of those involved in providing termination of pregnancy services in community and acute settings in Ireland.
For this purpose, independent qualitative research on the operation of the legislation from a service provision perspective will be commissioned through the eTenders Government procurement process. The research will gather input from hospitals, women’s health clinics and GP surgeries, nurses, midwives and pregnancy counsellors, providing termination of pregnancy services, from Medical Colleges, and from the HSE, as well as any other relevant service provider stakeholders who may be identified.
3. Public
To ensure that all those who wish to do so are given a chance to share their views on the legislation and its operation, it will be important to include an opportunity for members of the public, special interest groups or any other interested parties to submit their views for consideration in the Review.
Therefore, a public consultation process will be undertaken to provide an opportunity for all those who wish to do so to share their views on the legislation and its operation. Responses received will be analysed and the views and recommendations therein will be taken into account in producing the final Review report by the Chair.
The Chair may as necessary:
A final report on the findings of the independent review will be submitted to the Minister for Health for consideration.
The terms of reference set out above are subject to amendment following discussions with Chair.