THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE attended a rally in support of the Eighth Amendment in Dublin city today.
The annual Rally for Life march is organised by pro-life groups who are in favour of retaining the amendment, which gives equal status to the life of the mother and the foetus.
The march began at Parnell Square at 2pm before making its way to Merrion Square.
On O’Connell Street, demonstrators met a counter rally by pro-choice campaigners who are calling for the amendment to be repealed.
Speaking about the rally, Niamh Uí Bhriain of the Life Institute said: “This is an incredible, powerful day, when massive crowds of ordinary people turned out to save the eighth, to say no to abortion and yes to life, to tell Leo Varadkar that he would lose this referendum on abortion, because the pro-life majority has arisen and will work night and day to save the eighth.”
Referendum
A referendum on repealing the Eighth Amendment is expected to take place next year.
In April, the Citizens’ Assembly recommended that abortion should be legal in Ireland without restriction up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. On Thursday, the Assembly published additional recommendations about sexual health education and reproductive healthcare services.
Figures released by the UK Department of Health last month showed that 3,265 women and girls travelled from Ireland to the UK for abortions in 2016 – accounting for 67.9% of the non-resident abortions carried out in Britain last year. According to the Irish Department of Health, 25 legally-permitted abortions were carried out here in 2016.
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