How TDs in County Wicklow voted on Sinn Féin’s abortion bill
The Wicklow PeopleThe four TDs based in Wicklow split in three different directions during last night’s Dáil vote on Sinn Féin’s abortion bill, which proposes removing the mandatory three-day waiting period before accessing abortion care.
The bill passed second stage by 86 votes to 70.
Fine Gael leader Simon Harris voted tá, supporting the removal of the waiting period.
He rejected suggestions that the 23 Fine Gael TDs who opposed the bill -including Wicklow colleague Edward Timmins and Gorey-based Wicklow-Wexford TD Brian Brennan - showed his party was out of touch.
The Tánaiste said the question itself misunderstood the sensitivity of the issue, recalling years of divisive debates within parliamentary party rooms and instances where TDs lost the whip over abortion legislation.
Tanaiste Simon Harris speaks to the media as he arrives for a Cabinet meeting at Government Buildings in Dublin on Tuesday May 26, 2026. © Bairbre Holmes/PA Wire
He stressed that under his leadership, Fine Gael TDs are free to vote according to conscience, saying he had made it “very clear” that members should vote as they wished.
He added that he thinks “no more or less” of any TD based on their vote and argued that the cross-party support for the bill was “quite healthy”.
Minister Harris said the Dáil should never return to a time when TDs felt “overwhelming pressure to be whipped” on matters of conscience.
Deputy Harris’s stance on the bill also reflects his long-standing approach to reproductive healthcare since the repeal referendum.
As the former Health Minister who introduced the original abortion legislation in 2018, the Wicklow TD has repeatedly argued that the system must evolve in line with clinical evidence and lived experience.
Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore also voted tá.
She described the three-day wait as “an unnecessary barrier to healthcare”, saying women seeking an abortion “have already considered their decision carefully and should not be faced with additional obstacles before accessing care”.
Deputy Whitmore emphasised that removing the mandatory wait does not prevent any woman from taking more time if she needs it, but simply ends a legal requirement that applies even to those who are certain of their decision.
Social Democrats TD for Wicklow, Jennifer Whitmore.
She called the vote “an important step towards delivering on the promise of repeal and ensuring that women can access timely, compassionate healthcare”.
Deputy Whitmore also highlighted what she sees as a major gap in Ireland’s abortion framework: the continued requirement for women facing fatal foetal diagnoses to travel to the UK for care. She noted that the Social Democrats’ own bill, debated in the Dáil last month, sought to address this “ongoing injustice”.
She described the experience of travelling abroad for a termination as “hugely traumatic” for women ending much‑wanted pregnancies and argued that current legislation “does not adequately meet their needs or provide the compassionate support they deserve”.
Fine Gael TD Edward Timmins’s níl vote, aligned with the conservative wing of his party. His opposition reflects Fine Gael’s internal divide, with a significant minority of TDs arguing that the waiting period provides important reflection time and should be retained.
Sinn Féin TD John Brady was not recorded in the vote, a notable absence given that Sinn Féin overwhelmingly supported its own bill, with 35 of its TDs voting tá.
Deputy Brady’s non‑participation stands out in a party that has emphasised unity on reproductive healthcare reform.