Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland

Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland

7 September 1983 (1983-09-07)
"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."[1]
Results
Choice Votes % Yes 841,233 66.90% No 416,136 33.10% Valid votes 1,257,369 99.32% Invalid or blank votes 8,625 0.68% Total votes 1,265,994 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 2,358,651 53.67%

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 In 2018, it was repealed by referendum.

The amendment was adopted during the Fine Gael–Labour Party coalition government led by Garret FitzGerald, but was drafted and first suggested by the previous Fianna Fáil government of Charles Haughey. The amendment was supported by Fianna Fáil and some of Fine Gael, and was opposed by the political left. Most of those opposed to the amendment insisted that they were not in favour of legalising abortion. The Catholic hierarchy and many lay Catholics supported the amendment, but it was opposed by the authorities of other mainstream churches.^[2] After a bitter referendum campaign, the amendment was passed by 67% voting in favour to 33% voting against.

In 2018, a referendum was passed, known as the Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, which repealed the Eighth Amendment.