© Yves Herman/ReutersEnda Kenny: hard line against party rebels
A vote on the landmark laws, which enshrine a woman's right to a termination if her life is at risk, including from suicide, had been expected to pass at about 5am on Thursday morning.
But as discussions rumbled into dawn with no sign of an end, the Dáil was adjourned with plans for the debate to resume late this afternoon.
The laws will be supported by the vast majority of the country's politicians, but a junior minister who has shown signs of joining a small backbench revolt is likely to lose her job.
Despite the widely anticipated rebellion by Lucinda Creighton, the minister for European affairs, the laws are likely to pass comfortably.
The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013 was drawn up following the death of Savita Halappanavar, an Indian dentist who died in an Irish hospital in October last year after being denied an abortion as she miscarried 17 weeks into her pregnancy.
Her widower Praveen claimed the couple had been told a termination was not allowed because "Ireland is a Catholic country".
So fraught has debate around the legislation been that rebel members of Fine Gael, the senior coalition government party, have been threatened with being barred from standing for the party at the next election.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has stood firm on his hard line, insisting his members are well aware of the consequences of breaking ranks.
"The rules of the Fine Gael party are not set by me," Kenny said. "They are set by the supporters of the party at the Ard Fheis [annual conference] and those rules are very clear and everybody understands them."
Six pro-choice TDs are to vote against the legislation, claiming it does not go far enough to protect the lives of women. Richard Boyd Barrett, Clare Daly, Mick Wallace, Luke Ming Flanagan, Joe Higgins and Joan Collins say the bill is unnecessarily restrictive and have criticised the fact it seeks to criminalise women who have an unlawful abortion.
Opposing groups have set up vigils outside Leinster House, where pro-life activists prayed beside pro-choice campaigners waving placards with Halappanavar's face.
The suicide clause in the legislation has remained the most divisive aspect throughout. Creighton has refused to support the rule, which allows an expectant mother to seek an abortion on the grounds that she is prepared to take her own life and called for alternative therapies to be offered instead. Her demands were ignored.
She is likely to be the fifth Fine Gael TD to be expelled over the contentious legislation, after four colleagues voted against the government in an earlier round of votes.
The legislation follows a 1992 judgment by the supreme court in Dublin, known as the X case, in which judges ruled that abortion should be allowed if there was a threat to the mother's life, including suicide.
The case was taken by a 14-year-old rape victim who became pregnant and was refused permission by Irish authorities to travel to the UK for an abortion.
Ireland was also under pressure after a European court of human rights ruling that a woman in remission with cancer was discriminated against because she was forced to travel overseas for a termination.
The Fine Gael-Labour coalition government is the first in the 21 years since the X case to attempt to pass legislation on abortion.
But the catalyst for action was the outcry over Halappanavar's death. An inquiry found doctors at University Hospital Galway missed an early opportunity to terminate her pregnancy on health grounds.
The case prompted huge debate among obstetricians and politicians over whether the guidelines on when abortions could legally be carried out were clear.
Following the final vote by TDs, the bill will be considered by the Seanad - the upper house of parliament - where it will be passed.
After that, provided there are no demands for further amendments, the legislation will be brought to President Michael D Higgins, who will sign it and enshrine it into Irish law.
The government expects the law to be enacted before the Dáil breaks for summer on 18 July.
Reader Comments
to our Newsletter