It has been suggested that this article be merged with Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1992 and Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland to November 1992 Irish constitutional referendums . (Discuss) Proposed since February 2024. |
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To specify that the prohibition of abortion would not limit the right to distribute information about abortion services in foreign countries | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1992 (previously bill no. 26 of 1992) is an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland which specified that the protection of the right to life of the unborn did not limit the right to distribute information about services in foreign countries. It was one of three referendums on abortion held on 25 November 1992. It was approved and signed into law on 23 December of the same year.
On 25 May 2018, a referendum was passed to replace the provision on the right to life of the unborn with a clause allowing legislation on the termination of pregnancy.
In 1983, the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution was approved in a referendum, inserting Article 40.3.3°:
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.
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children obtained two injunctions affecting the availability of information on abortion services outside of the state. In Attorney General (Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (Ireland) Ltd.) v Open Door Counselling Ltd. and Dublin Wellwoman Centre Ltd. (1988), an injunction was granted restraining two counseling agencies from assisting women to travel abroad to obtain abortions or informing them of the methods of communications with such clinics, and in Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (Ireland) Ltd. v Grogan (1989), an injunction was granted restraining three students' unions from distributing information on abortion available outside the state. The Fourteenth Amendment allowed for information on abortion under terms regulated by law.
On the same day, two referendums were held in response to aspects of the Supreme Court decision in the X Case decided in March 1992: the Twelfth Amendment which would have excluded the risk of suicide as grounds for an abortion, which was defeated, and the Thirteenth Amendment, to permit travel outside of the state to obtain an abortion, which was approved. These three referendums were held on the same day as the 1992 general election.
Insertion of a new paragraph in Article 40.3.3°:
This subsection shall not limit freedom to obtain or make available, in the State, subject to such conditions as may be laid down by law, information relating to services lawfully available in another state.
The subsection relating to abortion had originally been added with the Eighth Amendment in 1983. With the approval of the Thirteenth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment, the full text of Article 40.3.3° was:
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.This subsection shall not limit freedom to travel between the State and another state.
This subsection shall not limit freedom to obtain or make available, in the State, subject to such conditions as may be laid down by law, information relating to services lawfully available in another state.
A previous amendment to the constitution had been proposed as a private member's bill by Labour Party TD Brendan Howlin on 12 May 1992. [1] This proposed to insert the following subsection after Article 40.3.3°:
4° Sub-section 3 of this section shall not be invoked to prohibit or interfere with the exercise of the right—The provision of such information and counselling may be regulated by law.
- i.to travel to and from the State for the purpose of receiving services lawfully available in other jurisdictions, or
- ii. to obtain, within the State, information and counselling relating to such services.
This was defeated at Second Stage the following day by 62 votes to 67. [2]
The Fourteenth Amendment was proposed in the Dáil by Minister for Justice Pádraig Flynn on 21 October 1992. [3] It was passed in the Dáil on 22 October and in the Seanad on 30 October. [4] [5] It proceeded to a referendum on 25 November.
Choice | Votes | % |
---|---|---|
Yes | 992,833 | 59.88 |
No | 665,106 | 40.12 |
Valid votes | 1,657,939 | 95.70 |
Invalid or blank votes | 74,494 | 4.30 |
Total votes | 1,732,433 | 100.00 |
Registered voters/turnout | 2,542,841 | 68.13 |
Constituency | Electorate | Turnout (%) | Votes | Proportion of votes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Yes | No | Yes | No | |||
Carlow–Kilkenny | 81,192 | 69.2% | 31,463 | 21,684 | 59.2% | 40.8% |
Cavan–Monaghan | 79,004 | 70.2% | 26,934 | 24,919 | 51.9% | 48.1% |
Clare | 65,579 | 67.9% | 25,092 | 16,964 | 59.7% | 40.3% |
Cork East | 58,160 | 71.8% | 20,924 | 19,102 | 52.3% | 47.7% |
Cork North-Central | 68,209 | 66.6% | 24,266 | 19,689 | 55.2% | 44.8% |
Cork North-West | 44,578 | 75.4% | 14,674 | 16,910 | 46.5% | 53.5% |
Cork South-Central | 75,747 | 71.1% | 32,218 | 20,050 | 61.6% | 38.4% |
Cork South-West | 44,627 | 73.8% | 15,562 | 15,197 | 50.6% | 49.4% |
Donegal North-East | 46,934 | 67.2% | 12,395 | 17,538 | 41.4% | 58.6% |
Donegal South-West | 48,494 | 62.1% | 11,797 | 16,446 | 41.8% | 58.2% |
Dublin Central | 59,941 | 61.3% | 20,812 | 14,784 | 58.5% | 41.5% |
Dublin North | 62,917 | 69.0% | 31,534 | 10,983 | 74.2% | 25.8% |
Dublin North-Central | 64,349 | 71.6% | 29,253 | 15,815 | 64.9% | 35.1% |
Dublin North-East | 57,888 | 69.6% | 28,623 | 11,036 | 72.2% | 27.8% |
Dublin North-West | 57,951 | 65.3% | 24,485 | 12,474 | 66.3% | 33.7% |
Dublin South | 84,767 | 70.4% | 43,613 | 15,018 | 74.4% | 25.6% |
Dublin South-Central | 63,316 | 64.1% | 25,825 | 13,949 | 64.9% | 35.1% |
Dublin South-East | 68,366 | 58.8% | 26,557 | 12,573 | 67.9% | 32.1% |
Dublin South-West | 69,654 | 61.9% | 31,009 | 11,173 | 73.5% | 26.5% |
Dublin West | 57,755 | 64.9% | 26,235 | 10,478 | 71.5% | 28.5% |
Dún Laoghaire | 85,924 | 68.8% | 44,009 | 14,001 | 75.9% | 24.1% |
Galway East | 42,604 | 66.5% | 14,885 | 12,487 | 54.4% | 45.6% |
Galway West | 78,539 | 63.8% | 28,761 | 18,515 | 60.8% | 39.2% |
Kerry North | 48,606 | 69.6% | 15,875 | 15,683 | 50.3% | 49.7% |
Kerry South | 44,034 | 70.1% | 15,389 | 13,058 | 54.1% | 45.9% |
Kildare | 77,798 | 65.3% | 33,425 | 15,935 | 67.7% | 32.3% |
Laois–Offaly | 77,226 | 70.2% | 27,552 | 23,624 | 53.8% | 46.2% |
Limerick East | 71,004 | 68.6% | 27,100 | 19,823 | 57.7% | 42.3% |
Limerick West | 44,768 | 71.3% | 14,629 | 15,165 | 49.1% | 50.9% |
Longford–Roscommon | 60,452 | 75.1% | 22,402 | 19,686 | 53.2% | 46.8% |
Louth | 65,666 | 67.3% | 24,356 | 18,260 | 57.2% | 42.8% |
Mayo East | 43,392 | 68.0% | 14,434 | 12,857 | 52.9% | 47.1% |
Mayo West | 43,407 | 68.4% | 15,838 | 11,544 | 57.8% | 42.2% |
Meath | 77,900 | 66.0% | 30,493 | 18,978 | 61.6% | 38.4% |
Sligo–Leitrim | 60,675 | 70.4% | 21,659 | 18,164 | 54.4% | 45.6% |
Tipperary North | 42,633 | 75.1% | 15,403 | 14,614 | 51.3% | 48.7% |
Tipperary South | 56,705 | 70.3% | 20,144 | 17,878 | 53.0% | 47.0% |
Waterford | 63,692 | 68.1% | 25,661 | 15,971 | 61.6% | 38.4% |
Westmeath | 46,128 | 67.0% | 15,874 | 13,447 | 54.1% | 45.9% |
Wexford | 75,553 | 69.6% | 28,384 | 21,530 | 56.9% | 43.1% |
Wicklow | 76,707 | 67.8% | 33,289 | 17,104 | 66.1% | 33.9% |
Total | 2,542,841 | 68.1% | 992,833 | 665,106 | 59.9% | 40.1% |
The legislation anticipated by the Fourteenth Amendment was provided for in the Regulation of Information (Services Outside the State For Termination of Pregnancies) Act 1995. This bill was referred by the President to the Supreme Court prior to its enactment, which upheld it as constitutional, having assigned counsel to argue that it provided inadequate protection to the life of the unborn, and counsel to argue that it provided inadequate protection to the rights of a woman. It was found to be constitutional and signed into law on 12 May 1995.
On 25 May 2018, the Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution was passed by referendum. [8] It was enacted on 18 September 2018, replacing the previous text of Article 40.3.3° with: [9]
3° Provision may be made by law for the regulation of termination of pregnancy.
Abortion in Ireland is regulated by the Health Act 2018. Abortion is permitted in Ireland during the first twelve weeks of pregnancy, and later in cases where the pregnant woman's life or health is at risk, or in the cases of a fatal foetal abnormality. Abortion services commenced on 1 January 2019, following its legalisation by the aforementioned Act, which became law on 20 December 2018. Previously, the 8th Constitutional Amendment had given the life of the unborn foetus the same value as that of its mother, but the 36th constitutional amendment, approved by referendum in May 2018, replaced this with a clause permitting the Oireachtas (parliament) to legislate for the termination of pregnancies.
The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1983 was an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland which inserted a subsection recognising "the equal right to life of the pregnant woman and the unborn". Abortion had been subject to criminal penalty in Ireland since at least 1861; the amendment ensured that legislation or judicial interpretation would be restricted to allowing abortion in circumstances where the life of a pregnant woman was at risk. It was approved by referendum on 7 September 1983 and signed into law on 7 October 1983. In 2018, it was repealed by referendum.
Amendments to the Constitution of Ireland are only possible by way of referendum. A proposal to amend the Constitution of Ireland must first be passed as a bill by both Houses of the Oireachtas (parliament), then submitted to a referendum, and finally signed into law by the President of Ireland. Since the constitution entered into force on 29 December 1937, there have been 32 amendments to the constitution.
An ordinary referendum in Ireland is a referendum on a bill other than a bill to amend the Constitution. The Constitution prescribes the process in Articles 27 and 47. Whereas a constitutional referendum is mandatory for a constitutional amendment bill, an ordinary referendum occurs only if the bill "contains a proposal of such national importance that the will of the people thereon ought to be ascertained". This is decided at the discretion of the President, after a petition by Oireachtas members including a majority of Senators. No such petition has ever been presented, and thus no ordinary referendum has ever been held.
Attorney General v X, [1992] IESC 1; [1992] 1 IR 1, was a landmark Irish Supreme Court case which established the right of Irish women to an abortion if a pregnant woman's life was at risk because of pregnancy, including the risk of suicide.
The Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1992 is an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland which specified that the protection of the right to life of the unborn does not limit freedom of travel in and out of the state. It was one of three referendums on abortion held on 25 November 1992. It was approved and signed into law on 23 December of the same year.
In re Article 26 and the Regulation of Information Bill 1995 [1995] 1 IR 1 was a decision of the Supreme Court of Ireland after a referral by President Mary Robinson under Article 26 of the Constitution of Ireland. This is a procedure whereby the constitutionality of a bill is considered by the Supreme Court before it is signed into law, similar to the concept of a facial challenge in the United States. If the Court finds that it is constitutional, it may not later be challenged after its enactment.
The Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1992 was a rejected proposal to amend the Constitution of Ireland to exclude the risk of suicide as sufficient reason to legally allow an abortion. It was one of three referendums on abortion held on 25 November 1992, the date of the 1992 general election. The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments were approved. As these could not be renamed, there has been no enacted Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution.
Three referendums were held simultaneously in Ireland on 25 November 1992, each on a proposed amendment of the Irish constitution. They were enumerated as the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth amendments.
The Twenty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2001 was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of Ireland to tighten the constitutional ban on abortion. It would have removed the threat of suicide as a grounds for legal abortion in the state, as well as introducing new penalties for anyone performing an abortion, by giving constitutional status to legislation proposed to be enacted after the amendment. It was narrowly rejected in a referendum held on 6 March 2002, with 50.4% against.
Feminism has played a major role in shaping the legal and social position of women in present-day Ireland. The role of women has been influenced by numerous legal changes in the second part of the 20th century, especially in the 1970s.
Pro Life Campaign (PLC) is an Irish anti-abortion advocacy organisation. Its primary spokesperson is Cora Sherlock. It is a non-denominational organisation which promotes anti-abortion views, and opposes abortion in all circumstances, including cases of rape and incest.
The Thirty-first Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Act 2012 amended the Constitution of Ireland by inserting clauses relating to children's rights and the right and duty of the state to take child protection measures. It was passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas (parliament) on 10 October 2012, and approved at a referendum on 10 November 2012, by 58% of voters on a turnout of 33.5%. Its enactment was delayed by a High Court case challenging the conduct of the referendum. The High Court's rejection of the challenge was confirmed by the Supreme Court on 24 April 2015. It was signed into law by the President on 28 April 2015.
The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013 was an Act of the Oireachtas which, until 2018, defined the circumstances and processes within which abortion in Ireland could be legally performed. The act gave effect in statutory law to the terms of the Constitution as interpreted by the Supreme Court in the 1992 judgment Attorney General v. X. That judgment allowed for abortion where pregnancy endangers a woman's life, including through a risk of suicide. The provisions relating to suicide had been the most contentious part of the bill. Having passed both Houses of the Oireachtas in July 2013, it was signed into law on 30 July by Michael D. Higgins, the President of Ireland, and commenced on 1 January 2014. The 2013 Act was repealed by the Health Act 2018, which commenced on 1 January 2019.
The Citizens' Assembly is a citizens' assembly established in Ireland in 2016 to consider several political questions including the Constitution of Ireland. Questions considered include: abortion, fixed term parliaments, referendums, population ageing, and climate change. Over 18 months a report is produced on each topic. The government is required to respond officially to the reports in the Oireachtas (parliament); as of 9 April 2019 responses have been given on three of the five topics.
D v Ireland is a case of the European Court of Human Rights concerning abortion in Ireland. It refers to the court case itself, and the circumstances surrounding abortion for fatal foetal abnormalities in Ireland. In 2002 Deirdre Conroy discovered her pregnancy was non-viable and had a termination in Northern Ireland. A public letter, written using a pseudonym, asking for it to be legal was credited with influencing the 2002 abortion referendum. She lost a court case in the ECHR in 2006 because she had not exhausted all domestic remedies. In 2013 after the death of Savita Halappanavar, she came forward, revealed her identity and again asked for this sort of termination to be legal.
Mellet v Ireland is a finding from the United Nations Human Rights Committee in 2016 that the Republic of Ireland's abortion laws violated human rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by banning abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormality and by forcing her to travel to the United Kingdom for an abortion.
The Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland is an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland which permits the Oireachtas to legislate for abortion. The constitution had previously prohibited abortion unless there was a serious risk to the life of the mother.
The Health Act 2018 is an Act of the Oireachtas which defines the circumstances and processes within which abortion may be legally performed in Ireland. It permits termination under medical supervision, generally up to 12 weeks' pregnancy, and later if pregnancy poses a serious health risk or there is a fatal foetal abnormality.
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