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Report may lead to abortion referendum

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

By Andrew Bushe

DUBLIN — Another referendum on whether to make a change in the 1937 constitution dealing with abortion is planned by the coalition government, a spokesman said last week after the first cabinet meeting following the summer break.

A working group on abortion set up by the government two years ago will publish its green paper report this week after considering more than 10,000 submissions.

"It will be a comprehensive document," a spokesman for the group said. "It will consider all viewpoints and outline options for dealing with the abortion issue but make no recommendations.

"Ultimately, one way or another, we are going to go to back to consult the people, but we will do so only when the current process is completed."

The green paper will go to an all-party parliamentary committee on the constitution chaired by backbench Fianna Fail TD Brian Lenihan.

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The committee will then issue recommendations to guide the government decision on what abortion amendment to put before the people.

Having endured previous bitter campaigns, politicians dread a new debate on the issue, but opinion polls have been showing that 60 to 70 percent of the people want another constitutional vote.

A number of the Independent TDs whose support is keeping the minority Fianna Fail/Progressive Democrats coalition in power, have also made clear recently that an abortion referendum is a priority policy matter for them.

After her shock election as an MEP for Connacht-Ulster as a "family values" candidate in June, former Eurovision winner Dana, Rosemary Scallon, also called for another abortion referendum.

After divisive campaigns, votes on constitutional amendments have already been held in 1983 and 1992.

In 1983, 67 percent voted in favor of inserting a constitutional clause prohibiting the legalization of abortion. In 1992, the Supreme Court ruled that abortion was legal if there was a "real and substantial risk" to the life of the mother, including the threat of suicide.

In a referendum later that year, 65 percent voted against an amendment to restrict the availability of abortion. One the same day, 62 voted in favor of women having an unconditional right to travel outside the country for an abortion and 60 percent voted in favor of information about abortion being made available.

Despite promises to bring in legislation to clarify the law after the Supreme Court ruling and the defeat of the government’s proposal in the referendum, the politicians have not confronted the situation.

It has meant that abortion is technically legal in limited circumstances but is not carried out in any of the hospitals in the state.

Instead, it is believed that about 6,000 Irish women travel to British abortion clinics every year to have their pregnancies terminated.

In a letter to the Irish Catholic newspaper two years ago, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern indicated his preference for one of two constitutional-amendment referenda options.

"Either route would give the people the final say on the fundamental issues involved so that they are resolved one way or the other but at the same time the legislature would carry out its responsibilities," he said at the time.

The first option involved a referendum on "heads" of abortion laws. This was the type of proposal that was defeated in 1992. The second option involves invoking the never-before-used Sections 27 and 47 of the 1937 constitution.

This complex procedure would require a majority of the Seanad and one-third of the Dail petitioning President Mary McAleese to regard new abortion laws as a matter of "such national importance" that a referendum should be held.

Not only would the Oireachtas defer to the electorate, but the constitution lays down that a defeat of the proposed law would require more than a simple majority.

It would have to be rejected by one-third of the whole 2.8 million entitled to vote. This could mean that if only 50 percent of the electorate voted, more than 65 percent of them would need to vote no before the law could be defeated.

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