The Irish Journey: Removing the shackles of abortion restrictions in Ireland

Abstract

In May 2018, the Irish electorate voted to remove from the Constitution one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the world. This referendum followed 35 years of legal cases, human rights advocacy, feminist activism and governmental and parliamentary processes. The reframing of abortion as an issue of women's health rather than foetal rights was crucial to the success of law reform efforts. The new law, enacted in 2018, provides for access to abortion on a woman's request up to 12 weeks of pregnancy and in situations of risk to the life or of serious harm to the health of the pregnant woman and fatal foetal anomaly thereafter. Abortion is now broadly accessible in Ireland, however continued advocacy is needed to ensure the state meets international human rights standards and that access to abortion care and abortion rights is fully secured into the law.

Fetal medicine specialist experiences of providing a new service of termination of pregnancy for fatal fetal anomaly: a qualitative study

“…The FMS experiences identified here offer learning for TOP providers in Northern Ireland during their current efforts to reform their TOP laws, 44,45 and for countries like Turkey, India and the USA, where TOP for FFA is legalised but there are access restrictions 46,47 . The retention of criminal liability can have negative implications for health outcomes and limits clinicians in providing medical services that comply with professional and ethical standards of care 13,14,33,39,48 . Unclear regulations, which exist worldwide, result in delay and restrictions to TOP services, including TOP for FFA 33,47,49 .…”

“…The Republic of Ireland legislated for TOP for fatal fetal anomaly (FFA) for the first time in 2018. Prior to this, Ireland held one of the most restrictive legislative positions on TOP in the world: 11 the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution protected ‘the right to life of the unborn’, 12 and ensured that TOP, including TOP for FFA, was a criminal offence 13,14 . On 1 January 2019, the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 was enacted, permitting TOP if two medical practitioners (one being an obstetrician), ‘are of the reasonable opinion’ that the fetal diagnosis is ‘likely to lead to the death of the fetus’ during the pregnancy or in the first 28 days of life 15 .…”

Abortion care in Ireland: Developing legal and ethical frameworks for conscientious provision

“…On 25 May 2018, the Irish people voted by a majority of 66.4% in a referendum to remove the Eighth Amendment from the Constitution. This important result reframed the pregnant woman as an equal rights‐holder under Irish law, recognising her rights to autonomy, dignity and bodily integrity . However, the Irish journey is by no means over.…”

Exploring providers’ experience of stigma following the introduction of more liberal abortion care in the Republic of Ireland

“…More than 6,600 people accessed the expanded services in 2019 [4]. Recent publications outline the history of Irish abortion legislation [5] and the provision of abortion care in Ireland at the time of data collection [6,7].…”