A woman’s choice for control over her own body is a subject widely campaigned for. The denial of women’s reproductive rights is claimed to have devastating implications for women and their families (ActionAid UK, 2019). Examples of the effects these restrictions can have on society are evident in the Republic of Ireland, where the Eighth Amendment has been in place for many years. The laws imposed by the amendment and the stronghold that the Catholic Church has over the Irish population make abortion and other reproductive rights almost impossible to obtain and are the core reason for many campaigns that have taken place all around the country. These campaigns are not only to repeal the Eighth Amendment, which the Pro-choice movements strive for but also to keep it in place, which is the aim of the Pro-life supporters.
The country has witnessed many court cases and read about countless women and girls who had suffered under this law, such as people having to travel to other countries to end their pregnancies and even the loss of life of women whose health had been overlooked for the sake of the fetus. The mental and physical health of women in Ireland was becoming an issue that could no longer be brushed aside. The result of this saw the demands of the Irish people to acquire their basic human rights concerning this amendment, and it was now a matter the Government could no longer ignore, leaving them with no alternative but to give the people the chance to express their own opinions on this matter.
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Article 40.3.3, also known as the Eighth Amendment, was introduced into the Irish constitution after a referendum vote that took place in 1983. The changes brought about by the referendum gave equal rights to the life of the fetus, referred to as the unborn, and the life of the mother. These equal rights put at risk the mother’s health, whether it be her mental health, physical health, or, on occasion, even her life.
The Eighth Amendment was introduced after several court cases challenged the country's anti-abortion laws. In Ireland, abortion was always illegal with a possible punishment of penal servitude under The British 1861 Offences Against Persons Act. This became part of Irish legislation when Ireland gained independence from Britain, becoming the Irish Free State in 1922. The Catholic Church also has a strong influence on the abortion laws in Ireland. As the Irish people are predominantly Roman Catholic, the views of the church are very much adhered to. As far back as the nineteen hundreds, the Catholic Church has involved itself in the restrictions of women’s reproductive rights. These restrictions included the Casti Connubi, a papal encyclical introduced in 1930, which proclaimed that abortion and contraception were a threat to marriage as the main point of marriage was to procreate. The Casti Connubi backs up the legislation set out in the Eighth Amendment, as it also sees abortion as the unlawful killing of the newborn in all circumstances, including fetal abnormalities (Brind Amour, 2009). However, over time, Britain, The United States, and other European countries witnessed huge changes in attitudes towards abortion, and 1967 the British Parliament voted to introduce The Abortion Act 1967. This Act set out various circumstances under which abortion could legally be obtained and stipulated that they must be carried out by registered practitioners. As abortion was still illegal in Ireland, the change in British law saw a staggering number of Irish women traveling to England to seek out an abortion. As well as the financial, physical, and mental strain that these women had to endure to be able to acquire an abortion, they also risked the trauma of being stigmatized and treated as criminals, even though some of the pregnancies could have been the result of such things as rape and incest. These women also risked up to fourteen years in prison, which for the victims of rape could be a longer sentence than the perpetrator received.
The nonexistent rights for Irish women to choose for themselves whether they wanted to abort an unwanted pregnancy, plus the physical and mental health risks associated with abortion, have been highlighted many times.
One example of the restrictions of the Eighth Amendment is the case of Miss X. Miss X was a fourteen-year-old girl who had become pregnant after being raped by a person known to her. The family of Miss X decided the best option would be to seek an abortion for the girl, meaning they would have to travel to Britain to have the procedure carried out. Before leaving for Britain, Miss X’s family inquired via the Irish police (the Guardaí) whether it would be helpful in the prosecution of the rapist if the family could obtain fetal tissue for the submission of evidence.
However, when Attorney General Harry Whelehan heard of this inquiry, he obtained an injunction prohibiting Miss X and her parents from going through with the proposed abortion. The injunction was upheld by the High Court but was lifted on appeal by the Supreme Court, where all five court justices who overlooked the case ruled that abortion should be allowed in certain circumstances and that women have a right to an abortion if it is a risk to their life. It had been disclosed to the court that Miss X had threatened suicide. Miss X was eventually allowed to travel to Britain to have the abortion but suffered a miscarriage in the hospital while waiting for her procedure.
Another occasion in which the Eighth Amendment was called into question was the case of thirty-one-year-old Savita Halappanavar. Savita was admitted to a Galway hospital in October 2012 suffering from a miscarriage. Although a fetal heartbeat was detected upon examination, doctors concluded that the death of the baby was inevitable. At this time, Savita requested that she be given an abortion but was refused due to the baby still being alive, and under Irish law, while the unborn still has a heartbeat, they would be unable to terminate the pregnancy. After several days of distress, Savita’s baby eventually died, and a termination was carried out; however, the termination came too late as Savita had already developed sepsis and other complications which led to Savita losing her life. In an interview with the Irish Times, Savita’s husband stated that he believed changes needed to be made to the Irish constitution to ensure that no woman would die in such circumstances in Ireland again (Irish Examiner, 2013).
To some, this case highlighted how the Eighth Amendment put the health of the newborn before the life of the mother.
The introduction of the Eighth Amendment has seen many campaigns to remove it from the constitution but likewise has its promoters who agree with its terms. The Eighth Amendment has been quite often an unsavory and confrontational debate that has over the years divided the Irish nation.
The Pro-Life amendment campaign was launched in 1981 when it came to light that significant numbers of Irish women were traveling to England to obtain an abortion and that the Irish Supreme Court had ruled that a couple had the right to import contraceptives for their use. This sparked fears within the Irish Government that abortion could eventually become legal and so prompted the campaign for the Eighth Amendment to be introduced. In 1992, the founding members of the Pro-life Amendment campaign formed the Pro-life campaign and are strongly backed by the Catholic Church. These campaigners describe themselves as a human rights organization whose aim is to help defend human life from as early as conception to the person's natural death. The campaigners also claim to support women during their pregnancies and those in need of psychological support after terminating a pregnancy. The Pro-lifers have, however, been criticized as only being on the side of the unborn and not fully acknowledging women who have sought out abortions as their personal choice, whatever their circumstances may be. The Pro-life campaigners have fought hard to keep the Eighth Amendment in place and were heavily involved in the Love Both Project. Love Both is a national movement that aims to protect the unborn child’s right to life. The Pro-choice campaigners, however, do not agree with the restrictions that the Eighth Amendment puts on women who wish to have their own choice about their reproductive rights. Within the Pro-choice movement are The Abortion rights campaigners. This is a movement that is totally against the Eighth Amendment and campaigns for changes in the law. This movement promotes the right for women to make their own choices about reproductive rights which would allow women to freely obtain an abortion if they so choose and to have it in their own country therefore helping to eliminate the financial and psychological burdens that some women may endure when traveling abroad to have a termination. The abortion rights campaigners aim to eradicate the stigma that surrounds abortion and reproductive health rights and to educate policymakers on these subjects. The Abortion Rights campaign has also been criticized for being in favor of the woman’s rights and not the rights of the unborn, although their campaign has inspired many Irish women to come forward and reveal their accounts of the often traumatic and very much stigmatized abortions they had endured (AbortionRights, 2013).
In contrast to the horrific stories that have been disclosed regarding the experiences some women have gone through whilst having an abortion, some women on the Pro-life side claim that abortion is the easy way out, and without the Eighth Amendment in place, many unborn children would be aborted without justification. The pressures of the Pro-life and Pro-choice campaigns and the seeming changes in attitude concerning abortion by the Irish people in general prompted the government to agree to a referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment and the date announced for the repeal vote was 25/MAY/2018 giving rise to the Repeal the 8th campaign.
Two of the main political parties in Ireland involved in the Repeal vote were Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. Both parties were given a vote of conscience which meant that their vote would be of their own choice and not influenced by other party members. Fianna Fail, a republican party, had a majority vote which suggested the party should adopt a Pro-life position although the leader of the party Michael Martin supported the repeal and was reported to be angry when it came to light that a small number of the party members had influenced many other members to vote against the repeal (Irishexaminer.com, 2018). However, the Centre-Right Liberal-Conservative and Christian Democratic Party, Fine Gael, all supported the repeal but had differing views on what would replace it. Leo Varadkar, the Taoiseach (president of Ireland) and leader of the Fine Gael party urged people to back the yes vote. On the launch of their yes vote campaign, several party members commented on the Eighth Amendment and criticized its restrictions but pointed out that if abortion were to become legal in Ireland women would still seek out the procedure abroad as even with the victory of the yes vote there would still be restrictions on the terms of which a termination would be carried out. There was also concern that Abortion pills would still be obtained illegally and consumed by women without enough medical supervision (Google.co.uk 2019).
Upon the agreement for a referendum to be held the Oireachtas set up The Referendum Commission. The Oireachtas is one of the three powers of state that share authority in Ireland and its foremost task is creating new laws (Oireachtas. ie 2019).
The role of The Referendum Commission was to make sure that the 3.2 million electorates had all the relevant information concerning the upcoming vote for the repeal of the Eighth Amendment and to educate them on the implications of the Yes and No vote. By voting Yes, the present laws regarding Abortion would be replaced and new provisions would be made such as the right for women to obtain an abortion on request in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy and up to twenty-four weeks if there are special circumstances involved. But most importantly it would give women a freedom of choice on what they can and cannot do with their bodies. On the flip side, a majority No vote would see the Eighth Amendment remain in place and unchanged. However, laws may be passed to allow an abortion in circumstances where the mother's life may be deemed to be in danger and may be at risk of suicide. The repeal vote was welcomed by the electorate and on the 25th May 2018 the Irish people turned out to vote in their masses. It was reported that thousands of Irish citizens who lived and worked abroad also returned to Ireland to take part in this historic referendum vote. On Saturday 26th May the results were announced, and it was revealed that over sixty percent of the voters had gone in favour of the repeal. The outcome of the vote was hailed as a triumph and a historic day for women’s reproductive rights. This result was also welcomed by the Irish Government who promised to put the new laws into place as soon as possible and were not expecting any opposition from Parliament. Despite the promise that this law would be amended quickly an article was printed in the Irish Examiner on the 2nd September 2018 revealing that in the hundred days following the repeal over one thousand women had left the country to seek an abortion abroad. Pressure was once again on the Government to put in place the new legislation that would replace the Eighth Amendment which led to the Irish Prime Minister, Michael Higgins announcing that as of 1st January 2019, Abortion would be legal in Ireland. The changes made now gave equal rights to the mother and the unborn. As stipulated in the terms of the repeal the new law would allow women to have an abortion on request in their first twelve weeks of pregnancy, but abortions carried out after that would only be performed if there were special circumstances, these include risk to the mother’s life and the life of the unborn.
The evidence supporting the repeal of the Eighth Amendment clearly shows that the legislation contained in it was a blatant breach of women’s reproductive rights and disregarded any wishes the women may have concerning their bodies. Results disclosed after the repeal vote had taken place revealed that most of the Irish people were ready for change and would welcome the new legislation that would be put in place. Although some restrictions would still be in place, the policy change could only be a way forward. Even though these amendments took time to implement, the announcement that they would be introduced into the constitution on the 1st of January 2019, was a massive achievement for the repeal voters but unfortunately, this came too late for women such as Miss X. and Savita Halapanavar whose tragic events would have most certainly been different had the amendment never been in place. However, the yes vote was not a complete loss for the pro-life movement triumph as the restriction set in place would still see some women struggle in their plight to seek out an abortion and could in some way be looked upon as a small victory in their campaign.
Although this landmark vote was won it seems that Ireland still has a long way to go before women’s reproductive rights are truly honored, this is evident in the number of women who have traveled to other countries since the Eighth Amendment was repealed. Perhaps the huge influence that the Catholic Church has on the Irish people may still be holding the country back on issues such as this but it can only be hoped, if this is the case, that somewhere in the future, the people of Ireland will become less concerned about the views of the Catholic Church and in doing so women’s reproductive rights will be fully recognized.
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