There are concerns in the Cabinet about allowing abortion up to 12 weeks, as recommended by the Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment, the Irish Examiner can reveal. The committee’s report, which was published before Christmas, will be discussed by the Cabinet for the first time when it gathers on Wednesday. While Health Minister Simon Harris will recommend to the Cabinet that abortion up to 12 weeks should be legalised, several other Cabinet ministers, speaking to the Irish Examiner, have expressed their “deep discomfort” with such a suggestion. Irish women go abroad and women access the abortion pill in an unregulated fashion in Ireland. However, one senior Government source said the committee’s report gave the Cabinet a huge amount of political cover.

Source: Irish Examiner January 08, 2018 00:00 UTC