Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland

Common card · No. 473693

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 In 2018, it was repealed by the thirty-sixth amendment. The amendment was adopted during the Fine Gael–Labour Party coalition government led by Garret FitzGerald, but was drafted by the previous Fianna Fáil government of Charles Haughey. Fianna Fáil supported the amendment, while Fine Gael and Labour generally abstained in the Dáil vote. The Workers' Party was the only party to vote unanimously against the Bill in the Dáil. No TD or Senator expressed support...

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