Repealing The 8th

By Fiona De Londras and Máiréad Enright.

Reforming Irish abortion law. The 8th Amendment to the Irish Constitution was ratified in 1983,1 and provides—in the form of Article 40.3.3—that: “The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.” At first glance, the 8th Amendment may seem innocuous or merely aspirational. However, over time this provision, which could have been read in dozens of ways, has come to ground a near-absolute prohibition on abortion in Irish law.

Policy Press. (2018) 165 pages.