State-sponsored abortion in Ireland putting women’s health at risk

Almost one in three Irish women require further intervention following a chemical abortion, new research has shown.

A four-year study of complication rates at a hospital in the south-west of Ireland — the first review since abortion was legalised — found that 46 out of the 149 cases examined involved complications.

Under the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018, abortion on demand is allowed up to twelve weeks’ gestation.

Harm

Researchers based at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at University College Cork found that 14 women in the cohort required additional doses of the drug misoprostol to abort their baby.

One in six women suffered a botched abortion, requiring the child to be manually or surgically removed. Eight women experienced significant blood loss, and two were admitted to a high dependency unit.

Over a quarter of the women studied received follow-up care, either through a scheduled appointment or by attending an emergency department.

On the basis of their findings, the authors of the paper claimed that hospital abortions carried out prior to twelve weeks “are both efficient and safe”, and called for them to be made more widely available.

Risks

TD Carol Nolan, in a recent response to an enquiry on adverse “incidents” relating to abortions from 2019 to 2024, was told by the Health Safety Executive (HSE) that 50 women had suffered complications, 58 per cent of which were categorised as causing ‘moderate harm’.

In a report from the HSE’s National Quality and Patient Safety Directorate, Assistant National Director Lorraine Schwanberg explained: “The most commonly reported incidents involved heavy or irregular bleeding post-procedure”.

She acknowledged that while “most women do not experience any complications”, there is a risk of: “Infection, heavy bleeding, damage to the womb or retained pregnancy tissue”.

The most recent figures from the Department of Health show that 10,033 abortions were carried out in 2023, 23 per cent more than in 2022. The majority (98 per cent) were performed before twelve weeks.