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Background: In 2018, the Irish government enacted a liberalised abortion law permitting expanded access to abortion from January 2019. A dedicated information and support service - MyOptions - was established to provide non-directive counselling and clinical advice about unplanned pregnancy. MyOptions provides contact details for abortion providers but does not make appointments for abortion-seekers. In 2020, the Abortion Rights Campaign (ARC) conducted research into Irish residents' experiences of abortion care under the new law, including their experiences with MyOptions., Methods: Between September 2020 and March 2021, ARC administered an online survey. Qualitative data were coded using NVIVO software and analysed through thematic analysis. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively. This article analyses a subsection of these data to answer the question: What were abortion-seekers' experiences of using MyOptions?, Results: Many respondents were unaware of MyOptions before becoming pregnant. Some described MyOptions as useful and compassionate. Others noted a lack of clarity from MyOptions about the scope of its service and a lack of information on accessing abortion after 12 weeks. Respondents reported frustration that the service did not arrange appointments, explaining that having to contact general practitioners (GPs) themselves was stressful and time-consuming, as was GPs' refusal to provide care or refer to a willing provider., Conclusions: MyOptions primarily benefits abortion-seekers whose pregnancies are under 12 weeks and who are comfortable contacting a GP themselves. The addition of an appointments booking service and guidance on how to access abortion for medical reasons and abortion after 12 weeks could improve the service., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

In 1983, voters inserted the Eighth Amendment into Ireland's constitution, equating the right to life of a fetus with that of a pregnant person. Hundreds of thousands of women were forced overseas to access basic health care and thousands more were forced underground, importing abortion pills and risking prosecution. The realities of life under the Eighth Amendment sparked a powerful feminist grassroots struggle for abortion access. This article charts the path to abortion law reform in the Republic of Ireland from the perspective of grassroots activists in the Abortion Rights Campaign (ARC). The first half highlights the national and international policy mechanisms that activists leveraged to bring Ireland's abortion regime to the point of reform, as well as the power of challenging abortion stigma to mobilize the public and politicians, culminating in a resounding vote in May 2018 to repeal the Eighth Amendment. The second half analyzes the legislation enacted in late 2018 in order to give effect to the vote. While the new law and its commitment to free abortion is a momentous step for Ireland, it also establishes a needlessly cumbersome regime that remains grounded in a criminal law framework and incorporates barriers that have no grounding in medical evidence., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (Copyright © 2019 Carnegie and Roth.)