The Eighth Amendment has caused significant controversy in Ireland since its introduction in 1985 after being lobbied for by the Catholic Church.
Women and activists have fought for the amendment to be recognized as a barrier to a woman's basic health care since the 80s and going by yesterday's Oireachtas Committee meeting it finally looks like the amendment may undergo a significant change or be repealed entirely. Here's the full list of members in attendance and who voted for article 40.3.3 not to be retained in full which was motioned by Sinn Fein:
How members of #8committee voted pic.twitter.com/BP4w7SuQCe
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) October 18, 2017
Fifteenth members were in favour with members from current Government majority Fiann Fail and Fine Gael taking up seven of the overall votes. The majority came from Independents, Sinn Fein, People Before Profit, Social Democrats, Labour, Independents4Change, and Labour. Anne Rabbitte and James Brown, both from Fianna Fail, abstained from voting. Although he abstained from voting, James Brown strongly believes that abortion should be decriminalised. The three who opposed not retaining the article in full were Fine Gaels Peter Fitzpatrick and Independents Mattie Mc Grath and Ronan Mullen.
The government announced a referendum on the Eighth Amendment will happen next year but a specific date has yet to be announced. The Oireachtas Committee must now decide what questions the people will be asked in the referendum in May or June of next year. The members are considering six legal options as alternatives to the Eighth Amendment which includes deleting the article in its entirety or deleting and replacing the article in the constitution with legislation. Here's the full list of options:
These are the six options now being debated by #8committee: pic.twitter.com/rtLxKs0UFL
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) October 18, 2017
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Replacing the article would be the most complex option and may inhibit most women from access to a safe abortion or if they have to 'prove' incidents of rape. Dr. Peter Bolan revealed after reviewing the evidence that Savita Halappanavar was killed because of Eighth Amendment legalisation.
"Savita H died as a result of the 8th amendment ... I had the opportunity of reviewing her notes forensically" Dr Peter Boylan #8Committee
— Roisin Ingle (@roisiningle) October 18, 2017
The debate continues up and down the country for and against the repeal of the Eighth Amendment. The UCD Student Union President may face impeachment after students rallied to remove her as President when she removed abortion information from the Freshers handbooks. In terms of the vote, Ronan Mullen considered it a "disgrace" with no consideration for the human rights of a child while the National Women's Council of Ireland felt it was a "move in the right direction."
64% of Citizen Assembly members believe that the termination of a pregnancy should be lawful and without restrictions.
