SOME women will have to pay (presumably both men and women pay taxes in Ireland. I think what the giddy Health Minister means to say is that women aborting their babies won’t have to pay – unless of course they also happen to be tax-payers) Also, are heart procedures also free? Eye operations? ed.
Ireland officially revoked its ban on abortion this week – and its health minister says that under a new law, women won’t have to pay for abortion services in the country. The goal is to ensure access and make sure women aren’t forced to travel for the procedure, Health Minister Simon Harris says.
Supporters celebrate the result of the May 25 referendum in which voters backed the repeal of Ireland’s abortion law. The country’s health minister predicts the services will be free when they’re offered in 2019.
Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters
Irish President Michael D. Higgins signed the abortion referendum bill into law on Tuesday, striking the Eighth Amendment from the books.
It was “an extraordinarily historic day,” Harris said of the repeal, which follows up on a public referendum in May, when an overwhelming majority of voters said more women in Ireland should have access to clinics that perform abortions.