Abortion legislation Q&A: The Citizens’ Assembly abortion vote explained
The assembly comes to conclusions on the topics. Reports and recommendations will then be submitted to the Houses of the Oireachtas for debate.
The assembly held meetings over five weekends on its first topic, the Eighth Amendment, listening to medical and legal experts as well as hearing personal testimonies. It finished with a vote on the issue.
Justice Mary Laffoy is the assembly’s chair. She is a barrister who became a High Court judge in 1995, before being appointed to the Supreme Court in 2013.
The assembly voted on a number of questions across four ballots.
— In Ballot 1, 87% of the members voted that Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution should not be retained in full.
— In Ballot 2, 56% of the members voted that Article 40.3.3 should not be retained in full and 44% said it should be repealed (ie, deleted and not replaced).
— In Ballot 3, 57% of the members recommended that Article 40.3.3 be replaced with a constitutional provision explicitly authorising the Oireachtas to address termination of pregnancy, any rights of the unborn and any rights of the pregnant woman. In other words, it would be a matter for the Oireachtas to decide how to legislate on these issues.
— In Ballot 4, members voted on 14 reasons for which termination of pregnancy should be lawful. A total of 99% of members voted a “real and substantial physical risk to the life of the woman” was a justifiable reason for an abortion and 91% said that “serious risk to the health of the woman” was a sufficient ground for a termination.
Yes, 89% said rape was grounds for an abortion.
Yes, 78% said where there was a risk to the mental health of the woman an abortion could be justified. Furthermore, 72% of members agreed that a distinction should not be drawn between the physical and mental health of the woman.
Yes, 89% said that an abortion could be carried out where the unborn child has a foetal abnormality that is likely to result in death before or shortly after birth.
Yes, 64% said abortions could be carried out with “no restrictions as to reasons”, with 48% recommending that the termination of pregnancy without restriction should be lawful up to 12 weeks gestation age only and 44% voting for it with a term of up to 22 weeks.
In the UK terminations can be carried out up to 24 weeks and after this time, they can be granted if there is a grave risk to the life of the woman or a severe foetal abnormality.
In the US, a 1973 court case, Roe v Wade, had the effect of legalising abortion. However, individual states can regulate term limits or dictate whether the consent of a parent is needed or not where the person procuring an abortion is under the age of 18 or 16.
The assembly’s recommendations will now form the basis of a report for submission to the Houses of the Oireachtas. It is Justice Laffoy’s intention to submit this by the end of June 2017.
