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Irish marchers demand referendum on legalising abortion
Source: The Guardian
Irish marchers demand referendum on legalising abortion
Henry McDonald Ireland correspondent
Saturday 26 September 2015 21.24 BST
Thousands of people marched in Dublin on Saturday to demand that the next Irish government allow for a referendum legalising abortion in the republic. The demonstrators want a national vote on whether or not to repeal the 8th amendment to Ireland’s constitution, which effectively makes the fetus even at early gestation an Irish citizen.
The Abortion Rights Alliance said the march through the Irish capital would be the last before the general election and those who took part wanted all the republic’s political parties to offer a referendum once the next government was formed.
Claire Brophy, a spokeswoman for the Abortion Rights Campaign, said the latest opinion polls “indicated a strong appetite to liberalise our abortion laws”. She added: “Political parties can’t hold off on a referendum for fear that a conversation needs to happen beforehand. It will happen when people know a referendum is coming, as happened with marriage equality.”
The Irish Labour party, the junior partner in government with Fine Gael, has offered its support for a new referendum to repeal the 8th amendment. But a Labour minister in the coalition warned ahead of Saturday’s March for Choice that it could take a decade before the Irish people are ready to dump the amendment and liberalise Ireland’s abortion laws.
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Henry McDonald Ireland correspondent
Saturday 26 September 2015 21.24 BST
Thousands of people marched in Dublin on Saturday to demand that the next Irish government allow for a referendum legalising abortion in the republic. The demonstrators want a national vote on whether or not to repeal the 8th amendment to Ireland’s constitution, which effectively makes the fetus even at early gestation an Irish citizen.
The Abortion Rights Alliance said the march through the Irish capital would be the last before the general election and those who took part wanted all the republic’s political parties to offer a referendum once the next government was formed.
Claire Brophy, a spokeswoman for the Abortion Rights Campaign, said the latest opinion polls “indicated a strong appetite to liberalise our abortion laws”. She added: “Political parties can’t hold off on a referendum for fear that a conversation needs to happen beforehand. It will happen when people know a referendum is coming, as happened with marriage equality.”
The Irish Labour party, the junior partner in government with Fine Gael, has offered its support for a new referendum to repeal the 8th amendment. But a Labour minister in the coalition warned ahead of Saturday’s March for Choice that it could take a decade before the Irish people are ready to dump the amendment and liberalise Ireland’s abortion laws.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/26/irish-marchers-referendum-legalising-abortion
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