By a strong majority, in the Dáil last night, the Social Democrats Bill to remove the three-day waiting period for abortion was solidly defeated. That is something worth noting in this House. It is a very welcome development. It was the journalist, Brenda Power, who pointed out that in 2024, 2,000 women who had an initial consultation for an abortion did not go ahead with it. Brenda Power pointed out that even if one allows that 1,000 of those were cases where pregnancies sadly ended in miscarriage, the fact remains that many women have been enabled and given the space to change their minds about abortion because of the three-day waiting period. Given that human life, human dignity and human happiness are at stake in this crisis situation, whatever view you take of abortion and its legality, it beggars belief that any politician would want to remove a provision in law that gives women the space to consider their situation, given what we know about what some of them do when they are given that space. To turn this into a cold-hearted issue of rights when, in fact, there has been a beneficial impact of this three-day waiting period, is simply wrong.

It seems to be a strategy of the left, in particular, in politics to keep pushing to widen access to abortion, perhaps as a tactic to prevent us from considering the situation that exists and whether it should be adjusted. The sad fact is that one in six pregnancies in Ireland now ends in abortion. Our figures have gone up hugely since abortion was legalised. Even if there is no sign of any change in the law about whether abortion should be permissible, can we please get back to a situation where the centre ground of politics agrees that abortion is regrettable and that we should work to prevent abortions? That means encouraging people to give life, putting the supports in place and consciously referencing the humanity of the unborn child. That is not to put anybody in a difficult position, but to try, in the way that we try with so many other issues of public health, from smoking to other issues, to encourage positive behaviours.

We should all regard it as a tragedy when an abortion takes place. It is the ending of a life. In many cases, although not in every case, there is also regret, and sometimes long-term regret. That is why the three-day waiting period is so important. It is also why we need to consider our current abortion situation. It was also horrendous that that legislation would have effectively sought to widen the grounds for abortion based on disability in the context of severe foetal anomaly. Thanks be to God, that Bill failed. Can we rediscover our enthusiasm for talking about how we might reduce abortions, and work together to do that, regardless of our different perspectives on whether abortion should be legal?