Well the counts are done and the results are in. 

How many of our new TDs are for Free, Safe, Legal and Local abortion health care, 

and why does it matter?

Infographic key: 

Green: TD is for amending the existing legislation inline with the recommendations made by the Independent Review of the Operation of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018. We hope that changes to the legislation will be part of the upcoming Programme of Government.

This review was carried out on behalf of the last government, and the recommendations include:  

• decriminalise abortion in all circumstances
• extend on-request access throughout pregnancy
• remove the three-day wait
• maintain telemedicine for abortion care
• expand abortion services so that they are more accessible for people living in rural areas.  

Yellow: TD self ids as being pro choice or they have advocated in the Dail for abortion access (but voted against Brid Smith’s bill – please scroll to the bottom of the page for voting list). We hope that they will work on making the legislation better.

Grey: TD has not made their position on abortion a matter of public record. We do not know if they will lobby for Marie O’Shea’s recommendations, if they will vote against them or abstain. 

Red: TD has values which do not align with ARC.

The good news is that out of the elected TDs, 73 were marked as “Free, Safe, Legal, Local” or green. We all need to contact these TDs and ask them to put implementing Marie O’Shea’s recommendations at the top of their list. The recommendations were published in February 2023. In two months’ time, we will have had the recommendations for two years, almost seven years after we voted for Repeal.

20 TDs were marked as “Pro Choice” or yellow. We must contact these TDs and ask that they review the report which can be found here and explain that we want them to lobby and vote for these much needed changes. 

33 TDs were marked as “Position Unknown”. We need to contact them and ask for them to clarify what their position is. Will they work to uphold reproductive rights as voted upon by the majority of people for care and compassion here at home? Will they vote to expand the existing, services? Questions which they should answer with clarity to their constituents. After all, they are there to work on our behalf and represent us.

48 TDs were marked with “Values do not align”. As we saw during the road to repeal and the referendum, hearing from people makes a huge difference to our TDs when it comes to abortion care in Ireland. TDs who were never expected to identify as Pro Choice, changed their minds when faced with people’s lived experiences. 

We need to contact them and ask if they can not block the bill when it comes to the Dáil, that they do not obstruct Marie O’Shea’s recommendations and that they do not seek to introduce restrictions to the legislation and services. 

These are our new elected representatives and we need to tell them what is important to us, what we would like to see included in the programme for government, what work we want them to do on our behalf. 

88+ votes is what it takes to pass new legislation in the Dail and currently only 73 TDs want to improve the law and services so they are Free, Safe, Legal and Local. Let’s work together to find the other sixteen. 

Here you will find the full list of elected TDs and their contact details (as they become available to us). Please bear with us as we get the list updated. If you cannot wait, you will find all the contact details on the Oireactas website .