From Department of Health
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Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, has published the Report of the Review of the operation of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018.
Under Section 7 of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018, a review of the operation of the Act must be initiated within three years of its commencement.
The purpose of the Review is to facilitate the monitoring of the impact, operation, and effectiveness of the legislation in practice, as well as of the delivery of services in the area.
Speaking today, Minister Donnelly said:
"I would like to thank the independent Chair, Marie O’Shea, B.L., for her dedication and hard work in preparing this comprehensive Report.
"I would also like to acknowledge and thank the stakeholders, service providers, those who avail of these services as well as members of the public for their input into the Report. Their knowledge, experience and views have contributed greatly to this important milestone in the development of termination of pregnancy services in Ireland.
"Furthermore, the efforts and contributions made by those at the forefront of getting this service up and running should be acknowledged, having worked so tirelessly throughout the pandemic and beyond to ensure its establishment was finalised."
The Chair also wished to acknowledge the cooperation and assistance of all those who contributed to the report including the research teams. She also affirmed the need to sustain and develop good quality services, as specifically recommended by the authors of the providers’ perspectives report.
The Report examines whether services mandated under the Act are being delivered and makes a range of recommendations, most of which are operational in nature, with some proposing legislative change.
The Cabinet has agreed to refer the recommendations proposing legislative change to the Joint Committee on Health for its consideration.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) will establish an implementation group to deliver the operational recommendations.
The Department of Health continues to work with the HSE and other relevant stakeholders to improve the availability of the service to those who need it.
The Review was initiated in Q4 2021 and the public consultation went live on 8 December 2021.
The Review comprised two phases. The first phase of the Review was an evidence and information gathering exercise which consisted of a public consultation, and research into the operation of the Act from the perspectives of both people who use the service and service providers. The public consultation closed on 1 April 2022 with almost 7,000 submissions received.
Research to inform those who use the service was carried out by Dr Catherine Conlon who has completed a large qualitative study investigating unplanned pregnancy and abortion care. This study, which was commissioned by the HSE’s Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme in September 2019, has generated an in-depth understanding of the experiences of women who have accessed abortion care services since the commencement of the Act. The study was published by the HSE on 12 July 2022.
Research into the views and experiences of termination of pregnancy service providers was carried out, following a tendering process by Manchester Metropolitan University.
The second phase of the Review was led by an independent chair, Ms Marie O’Shea, B.L., who assessed the extent to which the objectives of the 2018 Act have been achieved, analysing in that regard the findings of the three strands of information from the first phase. The Chair also drew on the findings of other relevant peer-reviewed research and consulted further with stakeholders, as necessary, before providing conclusions.
The independent Chair was tasked with:
- service provision in the community setting
- service provision in the acute hospital setting
