Abortion panel battles email flood
September 19 2017
The Times
TDs and senators considering Ireland’s abortion laws have been overwhelmed by emails from pro-choice and anti-abortion campaigners.
Catherine Noone, chairwoman of the committee considering what law on abortion would be introduced if the public voted to repeal the Eighth Amendment, said that it was an “administrative nightmare”.
Continued at source: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/abortion-panel-battles-email-flood-qth5rp6z6
Abortion in Ireland: committee votes for constitutional change
Citizens’ Assembly votes 87% in favour of advising government to change eighth amendment on right to life
Nadia Khomami and agency
Saturday 22 April 2017
A committee set up to deliberate on Ireland’s strict abortion regime has voted for the constitutional rules to be changed.
The Citizens’ Assembly, a randomly selected group of 99 members of the public chaired by the supreme court judge Mary Laffoy, met on Saturday to discuss the contentious issue for the final time.
At the heart of the assembly’s work is examining the eighth amendment to the republic’s constitution, which gives equal right to life to the mother and the foetus. In the first of a series of votes by members on whether to advise constitutional reform, the assembly voted 87% in favour of change.
Continued at link: The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/22/abortion-in-ireland-committee-votes-for-constitutional-change
Chair of Citizens' Assembly defends selection of speakers
Sunday, 5 Feb 2017
The Chair of the Citizens’ Assembly, Ms Justice Mary Laffoy, has defended her selection of speakers for its meetings to date on the Eighth Amendment.
The Citizens' Assembly met again today to continue its considerations of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, which defends the right to life of the unborn with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother.
Continued at link
Source, RTE: https://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0205/850253-citizens-assembly/
Extra weekend added to agenda to allow more time to consider eighth amendment
Jan 8, 2017
by Ronan McGreevy, Irish Times
An extra weekend will be added to the Citizens’ Assembly agenda in order to allow members more time to consider the eighth amendment to the Constitution, it was decided this weekend.
Members of the Citizens’ Assembly on Sundaty discussed for the first time what its eventual recommendations on possible changes to the law on abortion could look like.
On Sunday morning the members wrote a reflective exercise on issues that might impact on eventual recommendations. Chairwoman Ms Justice Mary Laffoy read what she emphasised was an “ad hoc flavour” of written responses from members which they wrote during the exercise.
Asked what were the reasons to regulate or not to regulate through the Constitution, there was “a very wide range of views”, Ms Laffoy said.
[continued at link]
Source: Irish Times
By Keri Phillips for Rear Vision
November 22, 2016, ABC News
This week a citizens' assembly will meet in Dublin to take the first step towards a referendum on the contentious issue of abortion.
While the Irish may have established their progressive bona fides last year with their vote on same-sex marriage, a vote on abortion could produce a very different result.
In almost all circumstances, abortion is a criminal offence in Ireland.
[continued at link]
Source: ABC.net.au
Members of the public invited to make submissions by December 16th
Oct 28, 2016, Irish Times
Rachel Flaherty
The Citizens’ Assembly is calling for submissions from the public on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, a law that places the life of the unborn on an equal footing to that of the mother.
The assembly is a body made up of chairperson Ms Justice Mary Laffoy and 99 citizens who have been selected randomly to examine a number of issues.
The Eight Amendment of the Constitution is the first topic up for consideration and will be discussed at the next meeting of the assembly on November 26th. The closing date for submissions is December 16th.
[continued at link]
Source: Irish Times
Updated / Oct. 15, 2016 22:44
The inaugural meeting of the Citizens’ Assembly has decided to hold four weekend-long meetings on the constitutional restrictions on abortion before submitting a report to legislators.
The Assembly's Chairperson, Ms Justice Mary Laffoy, said she is investigating a claim by the pro-life campaign that an assembly member has been expressing pro-choice views on social media and warned that the body’s integrity could be undermined if it turned out to be true.
The 99 ordinary assembly members, chosen by a polling company to be broadly representative of the electorate, joined Judge Laffoy and Taoiseach Enda Kenny in Dublin Castle this afternoon.
[continued at link]
Source: RTE News
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