Political commentators have suggested for years that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael should amalgamate, because their ideological differences are so slight.However, the recent vote on the three-day reflection period on abortion suggests that TDs from both sides have more in common with each other than they have with either of the leaders of the former Civil War parties. A majority of both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs voted against moving the Sinn Féin Bill to the next stage.It may be that the biggest differences are not between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael but within them. In both parties, there are signs that people feel frustrated with their leadership and powerless to influence them. It is just particularly obvious in the case of abortion.It is a political canard that abortion is not a significant factor in how people vote, with the implication being that there is no political price to be paid for reneging on promises to the electorate.The truth of that received wisdom may depend on where your constituency is. Not only were many Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael voters reluctant repealers who could only countenance voting for abortion if some minimal safeguards were in place, so were many TDs.In contrast, Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris are content to vote for a Sinn Féin Bill while ignoring many of their own people.Martin has form. In 2017, delegates at the Fianna Fáil ardfheis voted to protect the constitutional right to life of the unborn. A year later Martin, then leader of the opposition, announced in the Dáil that he would support the repeal of the Eighth Amendment, blindsiding his own people.Harris also went on a journey from being pro-life to lapping up the applause in Dublin Castle from those tastelessly celebrating the introduction of abortion.Both parties, while managing to cling on to power, are diminished shadows of what they once were. Their inability to keep promises to the electorate hastened the decline.Let’s not hide behind the cliche about the three-day reflection period being paternalistic and condescending. It is a basic tenet in counselling that decisions should not be taken in panic or in the grip of strong emotions that cloud judgment. Any counsellor will try to help people slow down before making life-altering decisions. But there is little interest in establishing why women choose abortions. Lack of housing, secure jobs and childcare and the pressures resulting from brutally long commutes to areas far from supportive families all influence women’s decisions. Sloganeering about trusting women neatly evades engaging with the messy and unhappy realities of women’s lives, which force at least some of them into reluctant decisions to abort. Those abortions are presented as private, personal decisions – which on one level they are, but, on another, they ripple out and affect the whole of society. Eleven primary schools closed in 2025. There are 6,470 fewer children attending primary school this year compared to last year. Numerous factors are influencing the drop in enrolment, but are we seriously supposed to believe that almost 60,000 abortions since 2018 have nothing at all to do with it?The UK feminist advocacy group Pregnant Then Screwed found in 2022 that six in 10 abortions resulted from the cost of childcare pushing women into aborting wanted children. This group is pro-choice but willing to face reality.If you listened to Irish pro-choice advocates, you would think that abortion is unique in that it is always a free, informed and autonomous choice, with absolutely no impact from economic or social conditions. This is distinctly odd coming from left-wing politicians.Nor does listening to women ever seem to include those who were glad that the three-day reflection period existed or those who regretted their abortions. Nor will it end with the removal of the reflection period. There is pressure to widen the grounds for abortion to include disability, particularly for life-limiting conditions. Abortion advocates will keep pushing until the 12-week limit for abortion is gone, too.Conscience votes are allowed on abortion (except in Sinn Féin, perhaps because they are afraid of how their people would vote) because abortion is not like a decision to buy Viagra or have a rhinoplasty. People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger used these analogies to question why there is a reflection period before abortion.It is a weighty decision to take a human life. It is also a weighty decision to ask a woman to continue with a crisis pregnancy. Working towards a society where no woman feels she has no other choice except to end the life of her child is a huge challenge but, ultimately, will lead to a society that is more humane for everyone.Politicians who respect the rights of women and the next generation should be supported, while political leaders confident that they can ignore their own people with impunity should learn that it is not that simple.Reluctant repealers have a particular onus to make their voices heard because they allowed themselves to be persuaded by promises that will now be broken. There is still time to defeat this Bill.