On Monday night, Ireland's Cabinet gave approval for a referendum on repealing the eighth amendment to the Irish Constitution, which outlaws abortion except when a mother's life is at stake, giving equal legal protection to mother and fetus. Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said after the meeting that the referendum will be held in late May. Ireland approved the eighth amendment in 1983, giving Ireland some of the strictest abortion laws in the developed world.
Varadkar said for the first time that he will campaign in support of the referendum, calling it a personal decision that does not necessarily reflect the stance of his administration. "We already have abortion — unsafe, unregulated, unlawful," he said. "We cannot continue to export our problem and import our solution." Almost 4,000 Irish women — including from Northern Ireland — traveled to England and Wales to obtain an abortion in 2016, according to U.K. government statistics, CNN notes. "I know this will be a difficult decision for the Irish people to make," the prime minister added. "For most of us, it is not a black-and-white issue — it is very grey."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Today's political cartoons - November 22, 2024Cartoons Friday's cartoons - frozen assets, blazing fires, and more
-
How much of a blow is ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu?Today's Big Question Action by Hague court damages Israel's narrative that Gaza conflict is a war between 'good and evil'
-
UK gynaecological care crisis: why thousands of women are left in painThe Explainer Waiting times have tripled over the past decade thanks to lack of prioritisation or funding for women's health
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments lawSpeed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security lawSpeed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitutionspeed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidenceSpeed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulationsSpeed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriageSpeed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
-
Trump and his lawyer Alina Habba have a rough day in defamation courtSpeed Read Trump's audible grousing as E. Jean Carroll testified earned him a warning he could be thrown out of court, and Habba showed she 'doesn't know what the hell she's doing'
