The Abortion Working Group, established in 2019 and chaired by NWC, is a collective of civil society organisations and healthcare providers. The purpose of the group is to provide a space for information sharing and collective advocacy for groups working to ensure safe access to abortion in Ireland. The group advocates for the provision of safe and effective access to a high-quality and comprehensive abortion care service.
The group has come together to monitor the continued roll out and strengthening of abortion care services and will advocate where necessary for resources, changes and improvements and further service development. The group has submitted to the public consultation of the 3-year review of Ireland's abortion legislation and throughout the Review is advocating for a women-centred, human rights-focused process.
The Abortion Working Group intends to ensure that women’s experiences of abortion care in Ireland are heard and taken into account, particularly those who are often marginalised or who face additional difficulties in accessing services as well as those who are still forced to travel to access abortion services. The group also aims to ensure that abortion care providers receive the support, protections and resources that they need to provide a high quality abortion care service. The group will challenge efforts to undermine abortion services or women’s access to care.
The members of the Abortion Working Group are: Abortion Access Campaign West; Abortion Rights Campaign; Abortion Support Network; AkiDwA; Alliance for Choice; Amnesty Ireland; BelongTo; Cairde; Coalition to Repeal the Eighth Amendment; Disabled Women Ireland; Doctors for Choice; Dublin Well Woman Centre; Gynaecology & Obstetrics Women’s Network (GOWN); Inclusion Ireland; Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL); Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA); Lawyers for Choice; Leitrim for Choice; London Irish Abortion Rights Campaign; National Traveller Women's Forum; National Women’s Council; Start Group; Together for Safety; Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI); Termination for Medical Reasons; UCC School of Law; Union of Students in Ireland (USI); Women’s Aid; Women's Collective Ireland
