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Pro choice protesters in Dublin last year Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland

Campaign to repeal the Eighth Amendment planned for the autumn

The constitutional ban on abortion will come under scrutiny in the new Dáil term.

SEVERAL TDS AND abortion rights activists intend to campaign for a referendum that would repeal the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution – which gives equal right to life to a mother and her unborn baby – in the autumn.

The amendment, passed by 66 to 33 per cent in a referendum in 1983, has provoked considerable controversy in Irish politics and society over the last three decades leading to the X Case judgement that permits abortion where the life of a mother is at risk including from suicide.

United Left TD Joan Collins said that from September onwards, the repeal of the amendment, also known as Article 40.3.3, will be raised by her and other TDs as part of an active campaign.

“We will be raising it in the Dáil, the need to repeal it, have a referendum on it, which needs to happen,” she told TheJournal.ie this week. Independent TD John Halligan also said repeal “needs to happen”.

Those working with various abortion rights groups have also indicated their intention to be part of a campaign but the government is unlikely to push for any referendum in the wake of the difficulties faced getting the X Case legislated for in recent weeks.

However, the Labour Party leader and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has acknowledged that the current legislation is not perfect and falls short in the case of women who are the victims of rape or incest.

“The people voted in 1983 to insert an equal right to life of a mother and her unborn child into our Constitution, and now, thirty years later, we giving effect to that right. Nothing more. But nothing less either,” he told the Dáil during the recent lengthy debate.

Article 40.3.3 reads as follows:

“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.”

Recently released State papers have shown how the government was warned internally that the 1983 amendment could in fact allow a constitutional right to abortion as opposed to prohibiting it as campaigners for it had intended.

This transpired when the Supreme Court verdict in the case of X, a 14-year-old girl who was suicidal as a result being raped and becoming pregnant, gave an explicit right to a woman to have an abortion in circumstances where there is a real and substantial risk to her life, including risk of suicide.

Column: Here’s a win for all sides in the abortion debate

Read: Suicidal risk in X Case law ‘not consistent with Constitution’ – John Bruton

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165 Comments
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    Mute whatistheseason
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    Jul 16th 2021, 9:57 AM

    I have volunteered to be part of the control group for this experiment

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    Mute John Drake - Zoomers is OUT NOW!
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    Jul 16th 2021, 10:06 AM

    @whatistheseason: Congratulations! You have earned a nomination for this year’s Darwin Awards.

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    Mute whatistheseason
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    Jul 16th 2021, 10:09 AM

    @John Drake – Zoomers is OUT NOW!: We’ll see, but it looks likely that Covid won’t get me considering I’ve been travelling around the world all the way through this pandemic. And this vaccine has not been tested like previous vaccines. Ever hear of what happened with thalmolide?

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    Mute whatistheseason
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    Jul 16th 2021, 10:11 AM

    *thalidomide

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    Mute Darren Norris
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    Jul 16th 2021, 11:47 AM

    @whatistheseason: it is a key WHO medicine. Was not able to know the effects on every type of person at the time but still a valid and important medicine. Are you trying to scare people on vaccines with Facebook jargon?

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    Mute SmallbutMighty
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    Jul 16th 2021, 12:33 PM

    @whatistheseason: except it has been tested to the same standards as every other vaccine.

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    Mute James Ward
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    Jul 16th 2021, 12:40 PM

    @whatistheseason: funny that the same company who created thalidomide, manufacture the biggest selling pain relief/stomach relief product in Ireland. maybe helps with back relief for tin hats as well!

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    Mute whatistheseason
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    Jul 16th 2021, 3:24 PM

    @SmallbutMighty: No because other vaccines have average of 10 years before they were cleared for the general population. There’s no substitute for time and experience no matter how sophisticated they think they are. Add to that the fact that the vaccine manufacturers got an 100% indemnity, any dissent on traditional/social media is immediately crucified, the main stream news has gone way over to the left, has a lot of propaganda and can’t be trusted, people are at their wits end with the lockdowns, most people are afraid of stepping out of line and the pharmaceutical industry is there to make a profit. You can’t just go along with everything you are told, you have to investigate. If there was an actual debate and more dissent on the issue I would be more inclined to take the vaccine. However the fact that everyone is singing off the same hymn sheet is the thing that worries me the most. Conforming to the majority opinion is nothing to be proud of, nothing. Wake up sheeple.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNmx2Kj628M

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    Mute whatistheseason
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    Jul 16th 2021, 3:29 PM

    @James Ward: FTW I mean are you trying to make my point for me?!

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    Mute Paul
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    Jul 16th 2021, 10:08 AM

    Nice weather for it

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    Mute Jonathan
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    Jul 16th 2021, 11:19 AM

    Get them into you

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    Mute Rob
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    Jul 16th 2021, 9:56 AM

    Will those aged 35 and older be able to register through the portal for AZ or JJ? Leo mentioned they would at a briefing a few weeks ago but no mention of it since.

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    Mute Ryan O'Rourke
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    Jul 16th 2021, 10:12 AM

    @Rob: if you register it goes to a page and asks you if youre happy to receive Astra. No mention of J&J, presume that’s only through pharmacies?

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    Mute Rob
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    Jul 16th 2021, 10:53 AM

    @Ryan O’Rourke: The AZ option is there for all age groups?

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    Mute Rob
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    Jul 16th 2021, 11:04 AM

    @Rob: Its ok, I just registered but no option to choose AZ. No worries will decline my appointment when offered one and sit tight!

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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Jul 16th 2021, 11:13 AM

    @Rob: I just booked it and you are automatically register for pfizer and moderna and can also select Astrazeneca if you are willing to get it.

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    Mute Rob
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    Jul 16th 2021, 11:16 AM

    @Diarmuid Hunt: I’m 41 so that must be for younger age groups?

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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Jul 16th 2021, 1:49 PM

    @Rob: I’d imagine so as the AZ side effects though extremely rare have a higher occurrence in younger age groups.

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