Availability of abortion pill means the genie is out of the bottle

THERE are more than 1,000 abortions taking place in Ireland each year. Yes, they are happening every day, right under our noses, and as time goes on that figure is going to rise substantially, writes Alison O’Connor.

That increase will occur regardless of what the Oireachtas committee considering the Eighth Amendment decides, or what proposal the Government comes up with, or what does or does not pass through the Dáil, or how Irish people vote in a referendum. The reason is that each day an abortion pill package is delivered to at least three women around the country.

As awareness of this pill and its effectiveness and safety grows those numbers will climb, and correspondingly the numbers of women travelling to the UK for a termination will decrease. Of course, the women ordering and taking the pills are acting illegally.