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From Repeal to Implementation: Recent directions of abortion law in Ireland presented by Dr Catherine Conlon, Assistant Professor in Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin.

In May 2018 euphoric scenes greeted repeal of the Eighth Amendment to the Irish Constitution inserted in 1983 granting an equal right to life to the unborn from the moment of conception and the 'mother’ carrying the pregnancy. A law regulating provision of abortion in Ireland
was drafted and committed to begin in operation within six months on 1 January 2019. In the interim, committed health practitioners engaged closely with the Department of Health to develop an innovative model of abortion care wherein General Practitioners providing medication for self managed abortion would constitute the principal strand of provision.

This paper will focus on the experience of implementing this innovative model of care in a context where a hyper restrictive abortion regime had previously prevailed. It will draw on qualitative interview data with 58 women accessing abortion care in Ireland since legalisation
and refer to data emerging from service providers about enablers and barriers to implementing the service.

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