Abortion in Ireland has had a controversial history and remains a disputed subject today. Abortion is effectively illegal in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, except whenever the mother is in danger from continuing the pregnancy. Northern Ireland (Irish: , Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a constituent country of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ...

The abortion debate in the Republic of Ireland

At independence, the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act remained in force, maintaining all abortions to be illegal and subject to punishment. In response to the 1967 legalisation of abortion in the United Kingdom and the subsequent rise in the numbers of Irish women travelling to the UK each year to obtain an abortion, pro-life groups in Ireland began to press for an explicit amendment to the Irish constitution banning abortion. In 1983, the Republic of Ireland by referendum amended the Constitution of Ireland to add in what became generally known as the 'Pro Life Amendment', which asserted that the fetus had an explicit right to life from conception, with the Irish State guaranteeing to vindicate that right. In the referendum, the case for the amendment was argued by the main opposition party Fianna Fáil, the Catholic Church, some Protestant church leaders and a pro-life lobby group called the Pro-Life Amendment Campaign (PLAC) (which had campaigned for the amendment, arguing that the Irish Courts could theoretically face their own Roe v. Wade court case) while the case against was put by a pro-choice lobby group called the Anti-Amendment Campaign, which included future President of Ireland Mary Robinson. The arguments against the amendment were also put by the then Irish government led by the centre-right Fine Gael under Garrett FitzGerald, and most mainstream Protestant leaders. In the debate, no one actually advocated the legalisation of abortion. Year 1861 (MDCCCLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The Offences Against the Person Act 1861 (OAP) was a major piece of Victorian legislation passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which consolidated the previously complex mixture of common law and statute into a single Act designed to deal with all the offences which affected the physical health... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ... Elections Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A referendum (plural referendums or referenda), ballot question, or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita, originally a decree of the Concilium Plebis) is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ... The Constitution of Ireland (Irish: Bunreacht na hÉireann)[1] is the founding legal document of the state known today both as Ireland and as the Republic of Ireland. ... The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, the founding legal document of the Republic of Ireland, introduced the controversial constitutional ban on abortion. ... Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (Irish: ), commonly referred to as Fianna Fáil (IPA ; traditionally translated by the party into English as Soldiers of Destiny, though the actual meaning is Soldiers [Fianna] of Ireland[1]), is currently the largest political party in Ireland with 55,000 members. ... Holding Texas law making it a crime to assist a woman to get an abortion violated her due process rights. ... The President of Ireland (Irish: ) is the head of state of Ireland. ... For the poet, see Mary Robinson (poet). ... Fine Gael – The United Ireland Party, usually referred to as Fine Gael (IPA: , though often anglicised to ; approximate English translation: Family/Tribe of the Irish, is the second largest political party in the Republic of Ireland with a membership of over 34,000, and is the largest opposition party in... Garret FitzGerald (Irish name: Gearóid Mac Gearailt) (born February 9, 1926) was the seventh Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland, serving two terms in office; July 1981 to February 1982, and December 1982 to March 1987. ...

While the 'Pro-Life Amendment' established the principle of the right to life of the unborn, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother in Irish constitutional law, practical problems subsequently arose with its meaning. In 1992, a major controversy erupted over the issue of whether a suicidal minor who was a statutory rape victim, and who became pregnant, could leave Ireland for an abortion that is lawful in another country (Attorney General v. X, known as the 'X Case'). The Supreme Court interpreted the Pro-Life Amendment as giving a right to abortion in certain limited circumstances, in a judgment which came to be known as the 'X Case,' including when the woman's life was in danger. Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... Attorney General v. ... The Supreme Court (Irish: Chúirt Uachtarach) is the highest judicial authority in the Republic of Ireland. ...

Court injunctions issued in 1988 and 1990 under the 1983 amendment barred family planning groups and student groups from offering abortion counseling, information and aid in travelling to Britain to procure abortions. These injunctions grew increasingly unpopular, particularly after the 'X case.' Questions were also raised as to whether the bans on access to information violated provisions in the Maastricht Treaty. Two constitutional amendments were subsequently added in 1993 that guaranteed the 'right to travel' and the 'right to information' (a third amendment that would have defined when abortions could be considered legal was defeated). Due to questions about the constitutionality of the amendments, the changes did not come into force until 1995. Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is about the year. ... The Maastricht Treaty (formally, the Treaty of European Union, TEU) was signed on February 7, 1992 in Maastricht, Netherlands after final negotiations in December 1991 between the members of the European Community and entered into force on November 1, 1993 during the Delors Commission. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday. ...

The issue of what form of constitutional prohibition on abortion Ireland should have (if any) has been revisited in a number of referendums, but no clear result or consensus has emerged. In theory, abortion is legal in Ireland if there is a risk to the life of the woman. A provision exists in the Irish constitution to allow Dáil Éireann to legislate on this, however no political party has risked it, and in the meantime, while it is legal in theory, the body that holds medical licences in Ireland considers it malpractice for any doctor to perform an abortion. The Irish Medical Council stated "The deliberate and intentional destruction of the unborn child is professional misconduct. Should a child in utero lose its life as a side-effect of standard medical treatment of the mother, then this is not unethical. Refusal by a doctor to treat a woman with a serious illness because she is pregnant would be grounds for complaint and could be considered to be professional misconduct." This article is about the current Irish body. ...

Estimates to the number of Irish women seeking abortions in Britain vary, in the 1990s it is alleged that between 1,500 and 10,000 women who stated in hospital records that they were 'Irish' travel annually. The official figure is 45,000 since 1967. In May 2007, a pregnant 17 year old woman, known only as Miss D, who was pregnant with a foetus suffering from anencephaly was prevented from travelling to Britain by the Health Service Executive. The High Court ruled on May 9th 2007 that she could not be prevented from travelling. ^[1] Anencephaly is a cephalic disorder that results from a neural tube defect that occurs when the cephalic (head) end of the neural tube fails to close, usually between the 23rd and 26th day of pregnancy, resulting in the absence of a major portion of the brain, skull, and scalp. ... The Health Service Executive (HSE) is responsible for the provision of healthcare in the Republic of Ireland. ... The High Court (Irish: An Ard-Chúirt) of the Republic of Ireland is a court which deals at first instance with the most serious and important civil and criminal cases, and also acts as a court of appeal for civil cases in the Circuit Court. ...

It has never been illegal in Ireland to provide standard medical care to a pregnant woman which may result in an indirect abortion. That is, where the abortion is not the desired outcome of the act, but a side effect of the treatment. The crime under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 occurs when the intention is the deliberate and direct abortion of the child. As with any criminal offence Mens rea must be proved as well as Actus reus The mens rea is the Latin term for guilty mind used in the criminal law. ... The actus reus — sometimes called the external element of a crime — is the Latin term for the guilty act which, when proved beyond a reasonable doubt in combination with the mens rea, i. ...

Public opinion in the Republic of Ireland

Main article: Societal attitudes towards abortion

• A 1997 Irish Times/MRBI poll found that 18% believe that abortion should never be permitted, 35% that one should be allowed in the event that the woman's life is threatened, 14% if her health is at risk, 28% that "an abortion should be provided to those who need it", and 5% were undecided.^[2]
• A September 2005 Irish Examiner/Lansdowne poll found that 36% believe abortion should be legalized while 47% do not. ^[3]
• A June 2007 TNS/MRBI poll found that 43% supported legal abortion if a woman believed it was in her best interest while 51% remained opposed. 82% favoured legalization for cases when the woman's life is in danger, 75% when the fetus cannot survive outside the womb, and 73% when the pregnancy has resulted from sexual abuse.^[4]

Societal attitudes towards abortion have varied throughout different historal periods and cultures. ... The Irish Times is Irelands newspaper of record, launched in the late 1850s. ... The Irish Examiner (Formerly: Cork Examiner, The Examiner) is an Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork, though it is available throughout the country. ... TNS is a global market research group. ...

Northern Ireland

Main article: Abortion in the United Kingdom

Abortion is largely illegal in Northern Ireland, where only seventy to eighty abortions take place legally each year.^[5] Abortion is opposed by most of the major Northern Irish parties, both unionist and nationalist. Sinn Féin does, however, support a limited liberalisation of current abortion laws. However Sinn Fein have stated consistently that they are opposed to the 1967 Abortion Act being introduced to the North of Ireland. Abortion has been legal in England, Scotland and Wales since 1967. ... Northern Ireland (Irish: , Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a constituent country of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ... Unionism, in Ireland, is a belief in the desirability of a full constitutional and institutional relationship between Ireland and Great Britain based on the terms and order of government of the Act of Union 1800 which had merged both countries in 1801 to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain... Irish nationalism refers to political movements that desire greater autonomy or the independence of Ireland from Great Britain. ... For pre-Arthur Griffith use of the political name, see Sinn Féin (19th century). ...

On the 22 October 2007 there was a motion before the Northern Irish Assembly tabled by Jeffrey Donaldson MLA MP and Iris Robinson MLA MP which stated, “That this Assembly opposes the introduction of the proposed guidelines on the termination of pregnancy in Northern Ireland; believes that the guidelines are flawed; and calls on the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safelty to abandon any attempt to make abortion more widely available in Northern Ireland.” The motion was passed by a large majority. The DUP and the SDLP were always in favour of the motion. On the morning of the debate the Unionist Party tabled an amendment to the motion which was defeated. Sinn Féin voted for the motion. The Health Minister is Mr Michael McGimpsey MLA (UUP). is the 295th day of the year (296th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ...

On the morning of the debate 120,000 petitions against abortion were presented to Mr Donaldson and Mrs Robinson on the steps of Stormont. These petitions were taken into the Chamber so that they could be inspected by the Members of the Legislative Assembly who were due to vote on the matter.

The vote in favour of the motion was hailed as a victory by Pro Life groups.

See also

• An Irish solution to an Irish problem
• Abortion by country
• Abortion law
• Attorney General v. X
• Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland

An Irish solution to an Irish problem was a term popularised by Charles Haughey during his career as Minister for Health in Ireland and refers to the Health (Family Planning) Act, 1979 which was considered a compromise solution. ... International status of abortion law  Legal on request  Legal for rape, maternal life, health, mental health, socioecomic factors, and/or fetal defects  Legal for or illegal with exception for rape, maternal life, health, fetal defects, and/or mental health  Illegal with exception for rape, maternal life, health, and/or mental... Attorney General v. ... The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, the founding legal document of the Republic of Ireland, introduced the controversial constitutional ban on abortion. ...

References