The possibility of introducing free contraception for women in Ireland is to be considering over the coming weeks.
Minister for Health Simon Harris has said that experts in women’s health will come together to create proposals to address the access and cost of contraception.
This comes after part of the Oireachtas Committee’s recommendations on the eighth amendment included increasing access to birth control.
“We have much more work to do to promote sexual and reproductive health in Ireland,” Harris wrote on Instagram.
“Working together, we have made a lot of progress in the last year. Now the next policy area I want to act on is access to contraception and particularly addressing the cost.
“In the next few weeks, I will bring together experts on women’s health to work with my Department to come up with proposals to help. Big and important policy area. Looking forward to getting it done.”
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Harris first addressed the issue of the cost of contraception in the Dáil last year.
He said that plans were underway to consider how a free contraception scheme for all women might work.
“This work has so far established that provision of free access to contraception methods,” he said, “which are currently limited to those with eligibility through the Primary Care Reimbursement Services, would require enabling primary legislation.”
“If our underlying principle is that abortion should be safe, legal, and rare, then we must do all we can to reduce the number of crisis pregnancies and to support women in every way.”
