Just in case anyone is confused by this message - they didn't try to ban abortion previously and fail to do so.
In fact, abortion has always been illegal in Ireland. In the seventies, anti-abortion people in Ireland became fearful that a liberal Irish supreme court, in combination with a liberal/left wing government might allow abortion to be introduced, as it had been in the US. They lobbied for and won a specific anti-abortion clause to be written into the constitution, which they won in the early eighties. However the wording was so bad that it lead in the late eighties to a case where the State was obliged to prevent a teenage rape victim from leaving the country to have an abortion in the UK. The girl, distressed by this, became suicidal, and the supreme court took the view that her life was endangered and therefore would allow the abortion to take place in Ireland. The right to travel and information issues of this notorious, "X" case were tackled by a subsequent modification of the constitution, but not the "substantial issue" of the case - i.e. did the ban on abortion mean that a suicidal woman would still be denied the abortion in the country.
That's what the new referndum will tackle. It's complex, but the core of the referendum vote is on whether the threat of suicide should be grounds to allow abortion. A Yes vote will mean that a pregnant woman who says she will kill herself if she is denied an abortion will not be allowed to have one.
That, at least, is the abridged version. Apologies if this doesn't give all the details.
Dave |
