8th amendment - Artwork by Sille Toedten

Abortion and Ireland’s 8th Amendment

Everything you need to know about the 8th Amendment and it's repeal

History was made on the 25th of May 2018, when the people of Ireland voted to repeal the 8th Amendment of its constitution.

Here is what you need to know:

The 8th Amendment made abortion illegal:

For those of you unfamiliar with Ireland’s constitution, the 8th Amendment was voted into the Irish constitution in 1983 and states,

“The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.”

In simple terms, this amendment – which has been putting women’s health at risk since its adoption – recognised the equal right to life for both a pregnant woman and her unborn. The 8th Amendment effectively outlawed all abortions, even in instances of rape, incest, and in cases where a foetus was known to have a fatal condition.

Irish women who were legally barred from abortions have had to resort to other measures:

Due to legal constraints of the Ireland’s constitution, many women have had to travel to other countries for legal abortions. It is estimated that more than 170,000 Irish women have traveled to the U.K. and the Netherlands for abortions since 1980. This works out to be about nine women leaving for the U.K. to have a legal abortion daily.

These figures do not take into account the percentage of women who are unable to leave the country for legal abortions due to costs and other factors, or women who have not chosen to participate in surveys. Women who found themselves unable to leave the country have often opted for taking abortion tablets (the possession of which can result in 14 years of jail time – meaning in cases of rape, a woman could possibly receive more jail time than her rapist) without any medial supervision.

It’s repeal means women get to take back control of their own bodies:

The repeal of the 8th Amendment now means that abortion will be legal in a country known previously for having one of the most restrictive abortion regimes. The government is drawing up legislation that would permit any woman to request an abortion up to 12 weeks – and in extreme cases allow for abortion between 12 and 24 weeks.

Even Catholic hospitals would be legally obligated to carry out abortions:

Furthermore, Leo Varadkar (Ireland’s Taoiseach, or prime minister) has stated “[i]t will not … be possible for publicly-funded hospitals, no matter who their patron or owner is, to opt out of providing these necessary services which will be legal in this state once this legislation is passed by the Dáil and Seanad (senate).” This would mean that although individuals would be allowed to opt out due to their specific beliefs, institutions would not have this option; Irish hospitals with a Catholic ethos would still be obligated to carry out abortions.

It took a death to start a movement:

Although women in Ireland have been campaigning for their reproductive rights for decades, the 8th Amendment gained worldwide attention after the death of Savita Halappanavar in 2012, who suffered from a septic miscarriage after being denied an abortion. Halappanavar’s death resulted in protests all over Ireland, India, Britain, and many other countries demanding abortion laws in Ireland be reviewed. Although Halappanavar’s case gained worldwide recognition, she is just one of Ireland’s casualties of an amendment which puts the well-being of a foetus over that of a living and breathing human being.

This historical moment follows two other major social breakthroughs in Ireland:

This historical moment follows the Republic’s vote in favour of same-sex marriage which took place three years ago. Just two years ago, Leo Varadkar – who is openly gay and the son of an Indian immigrant – became prime minister.

Artwork by: Sille Toedten

There is of course a lot more to know about the 8th Amendment and it’s repeal (including how instrumental ex-pats have been to the movement), but we are here to give you some main takeaways to help you better understand the situation. To learn more about the history of abortion in Ireland, check out this article from Time.com.