Ireland to hold abortion referendum in late May
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| Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.- AFP |
Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Monday night
announced details of a referendum on whether to lift a constitutional ban on
most abortions. The Irish people will vote on the issue in late May.
The 1983 eighth amendment commits authorities to defend
equally the right to life of a mother and an unborn child.
Abortion is legal only in rare cases when a woman's life is
in danger.
The Irish Prime Minister or Taoiseach said voters will be
asked whether they want to retain the amendment, or repeal it and hand
responsibility for legislating on abortion to parliament.
In a pastoral
letter to his parishioners at the weekend, Bishop Kevin Doran of
Elphin and chair of the Catholic Bishops’ Consultative Group on Bioethics said
that if society accepts that one human being has the right to end the life of
another, then it is no longer possible to claim the right to life as a
fundamental human right for anybody. He also voiced his concern “that the
very same arguments which are now being used to justify abortion will be used
to justify ending the lives of frail elderly people and people with significant
disability”.
The Bishop noted that if the eighth amendment was removed
from Ireland’s constitution “the government would be left entirely free
to introduce whatever abortion regime it chooses, now or at any time in the
future”.
In the letter Bishop Doran invited people who are uncertain
about how to vote or what to do, to pray daily for the gift of Wisdom, and to
allow God’s Spirit to be their
guide.
If the eighth amendment is repealed abortion could be grant
up to twelve weeks, with no restriction.
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