Clear call to liberalise laws on abortion

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is facing fresh pressure to endorse the wide-scale liberalisation of Ireland’s abortion laws after politicians made clear-cut calls to repeal the Eighth Amendment, allow abortion up to 12 weeks pregnancy and to decriminalise the act.

Clear call to liberalise laws on abortion

The formal recommendations were made by the cross-party Oireachtas Eighth Amendment committee, paving the way for next year’s historic referendum to mirror the group’s findings unless the Dáil, Seanad or Cabinet deliberately intervenes to water down the plans.

In a series of decisions considered highly unlikely when it was set up last summer, the 21-person committee yesterday voted in favour of radically changing Ireland’s abortion laws for the first time since 1983 and removing the issue entirely from the Constitution.

And while the recommendations are only advisory and still have to be debated by the Dáil and Seanad in January before being sent to the Cabinet, they have significantly increased the pressure on Mr Varadkar to endorse the changes being sought as his Government will be tasked with wording the referendum.

After four hours of votes, the committee yesterday agreed to repeal the Eighth Amendment by a vote of 14 to six, with one abstention, and to replace it with legislation to be drawn up by the Oireachtas — meaning it can be changed at any point without a referendum — if next May’s referendum passes.

In addition, the committee said this legislation should include:

  • Unrestricted access to abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy;
  • Decriminalisation of abortion for women and licensed doctors;
  • Abortions in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities;
  • Abortions when the woman’s life, health and mental health is at significant risk;
  • Abortions when there is a risk to a woman’s life due to suicide;
  • And abortions in cases of rape and incest.

However, the committee did not endorse calls for abortion to be allowed in cases where a significant — but not fatal — foetal abnormality has been identified, and similarly rejected socio-economic circumstances as a reason for an abortion.

The committee recommendations are likely to cause difficulties for Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in particular, as both Micheál Martin and Mr Varadkar are allowing free votes among party members in order to limit division.

Similarly, they could force Sinn Féin to further liberalise its own policies, as its committee members were yesterday unable to vote for unrestricted abortion up to 12 weeks pregnancy as this went further than the existing party position.

However, Mr Varadkar is set to come under the most intense pressure, as he has to date pointedly refused to say if he will campaign in favour of a repeal referendum by his own Government.

It is understood Fine Gael is also considering holding a special parliamentary party meeting in January to tell ministers they must support the findings, including Health Minister Simon Harris who has repeatedly said he supports repealing the Eighth Amendment and is already working on potential legislative options.

Pro-life committee member and Independent senator Ronan Mullen said yesterday’s committee was acting like “King Solomon” by treating children differently and claimed “they’ve voted to recommend abortion on demand”.

However, pro-choice committee member and Solidarity-People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith told reporters the Eighth Amendment is “an Irish solution to an Irish problem that has simply got to be gotten rid of. This is the beginning of the end of the Eighth Amendment.”

Pro-Life Campaign spokesperson Cora Sherlock said the recommendations are “a terrible indictment of the committee”, adding: “Thankfully, this committee won’t have the final say on the Eighth Amendment.

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