Council is to ask HSE when it will provide abortions in Sligo

SLIGO County Council will ask the HSE to announce a date for the provision of abortions locally through the public health system.

A motion was tabled by Cllr Gino O’Boyle, pictured right, at this week’s meeting of the council, where he said that Sligo does not have a community-level, GP-based abortion service and that this decision is forcing women to travel to GPs in other counties, while it also places stress on those who do not have the means to travel. He said: “It has been nearly three years since the referendum decision and legislation was passed.

“No Sligo GP is committed to providing abortion services through myoptions.ie and a few if any are providing healthcare privately. “Passively waiting on GPs to step up to the plate has failed.

This county level gap in services represents a serious failure in provision and it is failing women in Sligo who need to travel to Bundoran or Castlerea to find a doctor who will treat them. Doctors in this region are already under strain and feel it is unfair to have to provide for their own patients as well as patients from Sligo.” The motion was supported by Cllr Declan Bree, who said that many women were obliged to travel outside Sligo in 2019 for terminations of pregnancy and said that the government needs to have a role in ensuring a service is made available in Sligo instead of placing the responsibility entirely on the HSE.

“The latest figures released by the Department of Health indicate that in 2019, 59 women from Sligo who had unplanned pregnancies were obliged to travel outside the county for a termination.”

“Despite the fact that it is almost three years since the Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Act 2018 became law, and three years since the repeal referendum was passed, the

HSE has not yet provided the service to women with unplanned pregnancies in Sligo.

“In the West, Castlebar University Hospital in Mayo and University Hospital Galway provide the service, however there has been no indication as to when the HSE intends to provide the service in Sligo.”

“The Minister for Health recently told the Dail that this is a service issue for the HSE to deal with. However, I believe it is also an issue for the Department of Health to deal with.”