In praise of Leo Varadkar

The number of abortions taking place in Ireland is more than 8,000 a year, up from the memorable figure of 6,666 abortions in the first year after the law legalising abortion came into force in January 2019. It’s all rather a far cry from the situation that abortion campaigners talked about during the referendum campaign, when it seemed that foetal abnormalities and pregnancies that threatened the life of the mother were the problem.

There are, however, a couple of factors that mean that abortion is not quite as readily available in Ireland as the abortion lobby would like. One is that doctors don’t seem to like it much. A review of the law by a barrister Marie O’Shea (very much a pro-choicer) suggested that most GPs are not providing ‘abortion care’ – a ubiquitous, loaded term which softens the crude realities of the word ‘abortion’. The reasons for doctors’ reticence are unclear.