Ireland’s near-total ban on abortion stems from the 8th Amendment to the Irish Constitution, passed in 1983, recognizing the equal right to life of a mother and her unborn child. The provision has meant that abortion in Ireland is only lawful when the life - rather than the health or wellbeing - of a woman is in immediate danger. Abortion even in these limited circumstances has only been the subject of formal legislation since 2013, when the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act was introduced on foot of the ECtHR case A, B and C v Ireland.

UN Criticism

Ireland faced tough questions about the practical effectiveness and the serious limitations of the 2013 law when the country came before the UN Human Rights Committee in July 2014. Committee Chair Sir Nigel Rodley subjected the state to damning criticism, stating:

“Recognition of the primary right to life of the woman who is an existent human being has to prevail over that of the unborn child and I can’t begin to understand by what belief system the priority would be given to the latter rather than the former.”

The disbelief with which this international human rights expert viewed Ireland’s abortion regime touched a nerve in Ireland, and was soon followed by the latest in a series of abortion controversies: the case of Miss Y, a young asylum-seeking woman who was pregnant due to a sexual assault and sought an abortion on the grounds of suicide risk. She was subjected to a cesarean section in her 26th week of pregnancy following a series of delays in assessing her condition and circumstances. While the details of the case are now under review, it further underscored the total failure of the Irish system to respect the bodily integrity of women.

Repeal of the 8th Amendment

It is clear from recent and ongoing developments that the current legal regime in Ireland covering access to abortion is not fit for purpose and continues to deny women respect for their human rights, including the right to life, health, privacy and bodily integrity. The fundamental obstacle to achieving full respect to women’s human rights is in the Constitution. There is a growing well of desire for the repeal of the 8th Amendment. A wide-ranging coalition of human rights and civil liberties organizations, including the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, is working to place this long-overdue reform on the political agenda.