Ireland- Anti-abortion movement trusts politicians only when it suits them

Anti-abortion movement trusts politicians only when it suits them
Eighth Amendment was result of efforts in 1983 to politicise abortion

Mar 31, 2018
Diarmaid Ferriter

Over the decades, champions of the Eighth Amendment have been conveniently selective in their assessments of the usefulness of politicians. During the Seanad debate on the abortion Bill on Wednesday, Senator Ronán Mullen was adamant that “politicians simply can’t be trusted on this issue”; indeed the Eighth Amendment, he insisted, was originally designed to “take this issue away from politicians”.

But it was the politicians who the orchestrators of the Eighth Amendment found extremely useful in 1983. Emily O’Reilly’s 1992 book, Masterminds of the Right underlines a secret world of a very small group who plotted the 1983 amendment and got the politicians to do their bidding.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/anti-abortion-movement-trusts-politicians-only-when-it-suits-them-1.3445715

Ireland – Abortion referendum: Phoney war prevails until legislation is clear

Abortion referendum: Phoney war prevails until legislation is clear
The 12-week stance and the notion of trust – coming from both sides – is crucial to debate

Mar 3, 2018
Fiach Kelly

Last November, a group of 15 to 20 people who have pressed for changes to Ireland’s abortion laws for decades sat in the headquarters of the National Women’s Council of Ireland in Smithfield to listen to a research briefing.

One of the key messages for the forthcoming campaign, according to sources, was that “some change is better than no change”, and that they must be willingness to settle for less than some of them have long wanted.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/abortion-referendum-phoney-war-prevails-until-legislation-is-clear-1.3413360

Ireland: Mixed views after Cabinet agrees to vote on replacing Eighth

Mixed views after Cabinet agrees to vote on replacing Eighth
Reaction: Harris says suggesting that women would abort disabled child is offensive

Jan 30, 2018
Vivienne Clarke

It is offensive to suggest that Irish women would seek an abortion to avoid having a child with a disability, Minister for Health Simon Harris has said.

Mr Harris pointed out that the Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment had voted specifically to avoid disability as grounds for abortion.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/mixed-views-after-cabinet-agrees-to-vote-on-replacing-eighth-1.3373571

Ireland: Abortion and the eighth amendment: putting it up to the politicians

Abortion and the eighth amendment: putting it up to the politicians
The abortion committee has voted in favour of repealing the eighth amendment — now it’s up to the Dail

Justine McCarthy
December 17 2017

After 13 weeks, 16 meetings, 47 witnesses and sporadic outbreaks of umbrage, a stunned silence suddenly descended on committee room three in the basement of Leinster House on Wednesday evening. The Oireachtas committee on the eighth amendment had just voted to recommend the repeal of the constitution's most divisive clause, the 34-year ban on abortion.

“Should we clap or what?” asked Brid Smith, a Solidarity-People Before Profit TD who has told how she took a boat to England in 1985 to have a pregnancy terminated. Laughter rippled through the public gallery and around the horseshoe-shaped committee desk. It stopped where Rónán Mullen, an independent senator, and the TDs Mattie McGrath, an independent, and Peter Fitzpatrick of Fine Gael sat together, stony-faced.

Continued at source: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/ireland/abortion-and-the-eighth-amendment-putting-it-up-to-the-politicians-fjz8f0pzm

Irish Lawmakers Back Repeal of Abortion Ban

Irish Lawmakers Back Repeal of Abortion Ban

By ED O’LOUGHLIN (Web Summary: A parliamentary committee also said a woman should be able to terminate a pregnancy up to the 12th week.) December 14, 2017

DUBLIN — An Irish parliamentary committee recommended on Wednesday that a constitutional ban on abortion be repealed, paving the way for the liberalization of one of the world’s strictest abortion laws.

The committee recommended removing the provision in the Irish Constitution that gives a fetus and the mother an equal legal right to life, which has been the law since 1983. That provision has been used to ban abortion in all circumstances, including rape, incest, fatal fetal abnormality and any risk to the life of the mother.

Continued at source: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/12/13/irish-lawmakers-back-repeal-abortion-ban/TK3ik8LUnFoEr96NXmi6CJ/story.html

Ireland: May timetable for abortion referendum – Tánaiste

May timetable for abortion referendum - Tánaiste
Three anti-abortion members of the Oireachtas committee on the Eighth Amendment to boycott final meeting

Thu, Dec 14, 2017
Sarah Bardon

The Government is working to a timetable for a referendum on abortion in May, Tánaiste Simon Coveney has said.

He said most of the work on the Bills is expected to be completed by mid-March and he appealed to TDs to show leadership, with a respectful debate on an issue that “will divide households”.

Continued at source: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/may-timetable-for-abortion-referendum-t%C3%A1naiste-1.3326633

Ireland: Pressure increases on Government after committee votes on abortion

Pressure increases on Government after committee votes on abortion
Possible dates for referendum on Eighth Amendment are May 14th and June 8th

Dec 14, 2017
Sarah Bardon

The Oireachtas committee on the amendment has concluded that a number of significant changes should to be made to abortion laws in Ireland.

Pressure has increased on the Government to hold a referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment and provide abortions up to 12 weeks following the recommendations of an Oireachtas committee.

The Oireachtas committee on the amendment has concluded that a number of significant changes should to be made to abortion laws in Ireland.

Continued at source: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/pressure-increases-on-government-after-committee-votes-on-abortion-1.3326633

Ireland: Experts challenged at Eighth Amendment committee over Dutch abortion laws

Experts challenged at Eighth Amendment committee over Dutch abortion laws
Updated / Thursday, 23 Nov 2017

The number of babies born with Down Syndrome in the Netherlands has not decreased with the introduction of prenatal screening, an Oireachtas committee has heard.

That is according to Eva Pajkrt, a Professor of Obstetrics at the University of Amsterdam, who is before the Oireachtas Eighth Amendment Committee.

She was addressing concerns expressed by Fine Gael TD Peter Fitzpatrick that screening would result in fewer babies with Down Syndrome being born.

Continued at source: https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2017/1123/922355-abortion-committee/

Ireland: Claims of bias at abortion committee ‘utter nonsense’

Claims of bias at abortion committee ‘utter nonsense’
Senator Rónán Mullan says chair Catherine Noone had ‘failed to procure objectivity’

Nov 22, 2017
Colm Keena

Members of the Oireachtas committee on the Eighth Amendment have criticised colleagues who alleged its work displays bias or who have attacked the committee chair.

Earlier, Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy said a lot of the contributions to the committee had been factual rather than biased, and the claim that the committee was operating in a biased manner was “utter nonsense”.

Continued at source: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/claims-of-bias-at-abortion-committee-utter-nonsense-1.3301054

Ireland: Handmaid’s Tales at abortion committee

Handmaid’s Tales at abortion committee

Justine McCarthy
November 19 2017

Forget science fiction — the eighth amendment debates are truly dystopian

Tammy Wynette was right — sometimes it’s hard to be a woman. Ever more so, these days, when 21 parliamentarians gather in Leinster House each Wednesday to discuss abortion. It’s a topic guaranteed to elicit deeply held grievances, frustration, feelings of victimhood, accusations of prejudice and spittle-licking outrage at perceived injustices, and it does — from men.

Women are in a majority of one on the joint committee on the eighth amendment to the constitution. When its work is done, all of them ought to be awarded a medal, regardless of their personal views on abortion, for their sheer endurance and dignity. For to sit in that room with a womb — or the memory of having had one — is to be subjected to a sort of medieval torture.

Continued at source: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/ireland/handmaids-tales-at-abortion-committee-f5fsw3rgq