Photo: Gript.ie Independent Senator, Sharon Keogan, has lambasted the Government’s safe access bill, insisting that the implications of the bill “are just as worrying as the hate speech bill in terms of their impact on civil liberties”.
Speaking in the Seanad, Senator Keogan said that she had “raised concerns with the House about this bill’s draconian implications” which she believed “are just as worrying as the hate speech bill in terms of their impact on civil liberties … Since any efforts to influence someone’s decision to have an abortion is criminalised under this law, this would, at the very least, create a chilling effect”.
The bill was passed in the Dáil in November 2023 and is currently being debated in the Seanad for further consideration. It seeks to prohibit certain conduct, including silent prayer, within 100m of any healthcare premises where abortions are provided.