Tag Archives: Repeal the 8th

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Taoiseach Enda Kenny in Dáil today

RTE reports:

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has brought a memo to Cabinet to set up a citizens’ assembly which will look at a number of issues, starting with the Eighth Amendment.

The Dáil will have to pass a resolution to establish the assembly.

It is understood the assembly will sit for a year to address all issues referred to it, such as fixed parliaments but it will issue a report on each issue as they are completed.

The report on the Eighth Amendment will be referred to an all party Oireachtas committee when completed.

It is thought that the assembly will hold its first meeting by November.

Eighth Amendment to top citizens’ assembly agenda (RTE News)

Previously: ‘Overwriting Fact With Fairy Stories’

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Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe

Further to yesterday evening’s publication of the new Programme for Government.

Newly appointed Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe discussed the document with presenter Cathal MacCoille on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.

In relation to abortion, the Programme for Government states:

We will establish a Citizens’ Assembly, within six months, and without participation by politicians, and with a mandate to look at a limited number of key issues over an extended time period. These issues will not be limited to those directly pertaining to the constitution and may include issues such as, for example how we, as a nation, best respond to the challenges and opportunities of an ageing population.

That said, we will ask the Citizens’ Assembly to make recommendations to the Dáil on further constitutional changes, including on the Eighth Amendment, on fixed term parliaments and on the manner in which referenda are held (e.g. should ‘super referendum days’, whereby a significant number of referenda take place on the same day, be held).

None of this, of course, subverts the right, and the ability of an elected member of Dáil Eireann to have a referendum on any issue, provided that member can secure majority support in parliament.

Mr MacCoille raised this with the Fine Gael TD.

Paschal Donohoe: “The Fine Gael position on that [repealing the 8th amendment] during the general election continues to be the case. We are committed to putting in place the same process that we did in relation to marriage equality that led to a referendum there. So what we will set up will be a Citizens’ Assembly to deliberate on the matter that will then lead to proposals that the Oireachtas would then consider and vote upon.”

Cathal MacCoille: “Or not. There might be no referendum?”

Donohoe: “My expectation is that there will be one and the process that we have put in place is designed to look at, what is a sensitive matter for many, in a careful way but that continues to be a commitment of this Government.”

In response to Mr Donohoe’s comments, Irish Council for Civil Liberties executive director Mark Kelly says:

“Minister Donohoe’s announcement this morning would appear to be another direct outworking of Ireland’s appearance before the UN Human Rights Council yesterday, at which its restrictive abortion regime was harshly criticised.”

“The Convention on the Constitution model proved to be a highly-effective means of debating sensitive matters in an intelligent and nuanced way, leading to a cross-party consensus on proposals to be put to the people.”

“The Irish Council for Civil Liberties believes that it is now incumbent upon the Government to publish its full blueprint for the new Citizen’s Assembly on Repeal of the 8th Amendment that the Tánaiste yesterday promised the United Nations would be up and running within six months.”

Listen back in full here

Rights Watchdog Calls for “Blueprint” of Repeal the 8th Assembly (ICCL)

Rollingnews

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Further to this morning’s reports that seven of the 15 Independents, who were in coalition talks with Fine Gael, are “opposed outright to any constitutional change regarding abortion, while a number of others have serious reservations”.

The Irish Independent reports Fine Gael told Independents it wants to establish “a citizens’ assembly, without the participation of politicians” which would, in turn, make recommendations to the Dáil about the Eighth Amendment.

Fine Gael risks losing votes of Independents over abortion (Irish Independent)

Jeanne Sutton

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This afternoon.

Trinity College Dublin Seanad candidate Lynn Ruane and Amnesty Ireland’s Colm O’Gorman outside Government Buildings on Merrion Street Upper, Dublin, calling for a repeal of the 8th amendment.

Amnesty will be holding a lunchtime protest outside Government Buildings every day for the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, yesterday…

Pic: Colm O’Gorman

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How pro-life candidates fared in the election, so far, compiled by Fintan O’Toolbox

But what now?

Stephanie Lord writes:

Labour might have been confident that they could deliver a referendum on the eighth amendment, but pro-choice activists of all political stripes and none haven’t forgotten that they delivered legislation on X to allow for abortion where a woman would be a risk of dying that contained a 14-year jail sentence penalty for inducing a miscarriage.

And the horrifying case of teenage refugee pregnant as a result of rape enduring what was ostensibly a forced c-section at 25 weeks, despite medical professionals acknowledging that she was suicidal.

The #Repealthe8th campaign exists in spite of Labour, not because of it. Perhaps Labour in government after #ge16 would have delivered a referendum, but what would that have looked like?

Besides, Labour aren’t in government now, and unless there’s some kind of divine intervention over the next 12 hours it doesn’t look like they will be. They had five years to work to hold a referendum and didn’t.

We can acknowledge that Labour were in government when the Marriage Equality referendum happened but it was won because people mobilised and worked their rocks off to get it passed; People who were never involved in politics before came out alongside grassroots groups and got Ireland to a place where it said yes to valuing people as equals.

So instead of throwing the toys out of the pram and acting all hard done by, Labour activists would do better to channel their energies into the pro-choice campaign and work for a repeal of these laws.

There is nothing to be gained by trying to undermine the positivity of pro-choice campaigners by getting in a huff, throwing hands in the air and saying we should all just forget it now.

That said, it is difficult to ascertain just how much of a deciding factor abortion was in this general election given the number of Fianna Fail TDs that have been returned and their unwillingness to commit to a referendum – but there have been huge returns for independents and political parties who are very much in favour of holding a referendum.

The people of Dublin Bay South waved goodbye to Lucinda Creighton, one of the most staunch anti-abortion voices in the Dáil and while this is to be welcomed, this is not a time for pro-choice activists to rest on our laurels.

Clare Daly has championed reproductive justice and been returned to the Dáil alongside Joan Collins. Ruth Coppinger, Paul Murphy, Richard Boyd Barrett and Gino Kenny are all pro-choice.

Sinn Féin have a policy in favour of repeal the eighth. There is a recognition, even amongst conservatives such as Leo Varadkar and Frances Fitzgerald that a referendum is inevitable.

It is easier now to be pro-choice than it ever has been before and thanks to the work of pro-choice activists and an increase in public support, the stigma surrounding the subject is ebbing away.

Now is the time to send a clear message to the returned members of the new Dáil that a commitment to repeal the eighth amendment must form a part of any new Programme for Government.

Women must no longer be blocked from accessing appropriate healthcare. Public opinion on the need to repeal the law and provide legal abortion for women is far more progressive than what is represented in the Dáil now, even with the addition of the large range of socialist, republican and left of centre voices. This public opinion needs to be converted into action on the ground.

After #ge16, what now for #repealthe8th? (Stephanie Lord, Feministire)

Image: Fintan O’Toolbox

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Supporters at the March for Choice in Dublin in September 2012

It wasn’t discussed last night.

But.

Tonight at 7pm.

At the Michael O’Donnell theatre in the Dublin Institute of Technology Bolton Street.

DIT’s Law Society will host a debate on repealing the 8th amendment

Those speaking in favour will include Dr Peadar O’Grady, of Doctors for Choice; Vanessa O’Sullivan, of Abortion Rights Campaign; Gerry Edwards, of Terminations for Medical Reasons; and Ailbhe Smyth, of the Coalition to Repeal the Eighth Amendment.

Those speaking against will include Cora Sherlock, Deputy Chair of the Pro Life Campaign; Áine O’Connell, of Youth Defence; Helena O’Callaghan, of One Day More; and Sinead Slattery, of the Pro Life Campaign.

*There’ll be free pizza afterwards*

FOOD FIGHT!

Abortion debate (Facebook)

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Pro-choice supporters in Dublin last October

Abortion Support Network, which was founded in 2009 and is based in England, helps Irish women pay for their trips to England or Wales—via donations from supporters—and finds them accommodation, if necessary.

Mara Clarke, director of ASN, says the organization hears stories from Irish women who were initially unaware of the group’s existence and who had tried to terminate their pregnancies.

“We are told, ‘I’ve been Googling ways to self-abort,'” Clarke says. “We had a woman who went out and bought heroin; she’s not a drug user, but she thought it might cause a miscarriage. We had a mother of four who said, ‘I’m trying to think of ways to crash my car so I miscarry but don’t die.’

“Women tell us they have drunk bleach and floor cleaner or swallowed packets of birth control pills and a bottle of spirits. We always tell the women not to do it and that they should let us give them the money.”

In Catholic Ireland, Battle Lines Drawn Over Abortion As Election Looms (Newsweek, Mirren Gida)

Previously: Illegal Abortion In Ireland

Leah Farrell/Rollingnews

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From top: Professor William Binchy, Professor Fiona de Londras; and law lecturer Mairead Enright (centre)

Tonight.

At 7pm in the Davis Theatre at Trinity College Dublin.

Trinity’s student union and its law society will hold a debate about the legal consequences of repealing the 8th amendment.

Speakers will include lecturer in law at the University of Kent Mairead Enright; Professor Fiona de Londras, chair of Global Legal Studies at the University of Birmingham; and Professor William Binchy, former Regius Professor of Laws and a Fellow of Trinity College.

FIGHT!

Debate in association with Law Soc: Repealing the 8th Amendment: The Legal Consequences (Facebook)

Previously: Ending The Hateful Eighth

contact

Tonight.

Dublin City Council will vote on a motion calling for the repeal of the 8th Amendment, in a motion proposed by Anti-Austerity Alliance Councillor Michael O’Brien.

Further to this, the Abortion Rights Campaign writes:

ARC is asking you today to write/email/ring/text your local Councillors urging them to support this motion to hold a referendum to repeal the 8th.

A sample email is below, though we encourage you to personalize your message and include your address so that your Councillor knows they are hearing from a local constituent.

Dear Councillor ______________, I’m writing to urge you to vote in support of the motion proposed to hold a referendum to repeal the 8th Amendment of the Constitution. Though the motion is non-binding, it is an important statement of consensus from our capital city. The 8th Amendment poses a direct risk to the health and lives of women and girls in Ireland and must be repealed as a matter of urgency. One opinion poll after another shows that the Irish people are calling for a referendum to repeal the 8th. We are asking you to represent our voices at the council meeting tonight. Regards,

Find a list of Dublin councillors here

Call to action: contact your councillor (ARC)

PLC tackles ‘lamentable’ council vote on abortion (The Irish Catholic)

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Amnesty Ireland is holding a protest calling for a repeal of the 8th amendment.

The organisation tweetz:

Since 1971 over 177,000 women and girls have left Ireland to have an abortion. She is not a criminal. Repeal the 8th…Ireland needs to stop the hypocrisy – Irish women have abortions, just not in their homeland.

Previously: A Deliberate Denial Of Care

Pics: Amnesty Ireland