It has been revealed that more than one hundred babies have been born alive in Ireland following abortions since the procedure was legalised in 2019. A large majority of these babies suffered from a major congenital abnormality and were generally delivered between the 22nd and 27th week of pregnancy. The grim news came in reply to a Parliamentary Question from Deputy Ken O’Flynn (Independent Ireland). The HSE confirmed that in 2022 alone, 12 neonatal deaths followed a termination of pregnancy.
These were babies born alive after an abortion who died within the first week of being delivered, generally on the first day. As mentioned, in nearly all of these cases, they suffered from a life-limiting condition. The HSE response did not include a further 11 cases from the same year where babies were delivered alive before 24 weeks of pregnancy or with a birth weight under 500 grams.
Reports from the National Perinatal Epidemiology Centre (NPEC) provide a fuller picture.
Between 2019 and 2022, the NPEC recorded 84 live births following termination of pregnancy. Every one of these babies died soon after birth, either as a neonatal death or at an earlier “pre-viable” stage, before 24 weeks’ gestation and weighing under 500 grams.
The numbers varied by year. In 2019 there were 17 such cases, in 2020 there were 30, in 2021 there were 14, and in 2022 there were 23. Most of these cases occurred between 22 and 27 weeks of pregnancy, and in nearly every instance the babies had a major congenital anomaly — a serious medical condition that meant survival beyond 28 days after birth was not expected.
This would be a ground for legal abortion in Ireland after 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Alongside the live births, the NPEC reports also record cases where babies are delivered without signs of life following a termination. Between 2019 and 2022, there were 106 stillbirths after abortion in Ireland. As with the live births, the overwhelming majority occurred between 22 and 27 weeks of pregnancy.
What about the most recent years? Unlike the earlier reports, the 2023 NPEC audit excluded abortions from its main figures, but if the same pattern continued, there were probably around 18 live births after abortion in 2023, with a similar number expected in 2024. That would bring the total for the six years 2019–2024 to about 120 live births following terminations of pregnancy in Ireland.
Deputy O’Flynn has raised further questions with the Minister for Health about the kind of care these babies receive in the moments after birth.
In 2020, a study based on interviews with 10 doctors who perform abortions in Irish hospitals revealed that it was unclear to them who should look after babies born alive, and that they were “begging people to help” provide palliative care.
In 2023, even the strongly pro-choice review of abortion legislation by Marie O’Shea noted that some doctors were not “prepared to offer comfort care where the birth is a result of a termination of pregnancy,” and called for proper guidelines to be developed.
Pro Life Campaign spokesperson Eilís Mulroy commented on the recent revelations from the HSE: “Back in 2018, soon after the abortion referendum, the then Minister for Health, Simon Harris, accused TDs in the Dáil of resorting to ‘shock tactics’ for raising concerns about babies being born alive after abortion and the care they might receive. We now know that the concerns raised are grounded in harsh reality and should not have been dismissed.”
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