Women’s Reproductive Rights and the Legacy of Religion in Ireland: The Eighth Amendment and Its Repeal

Abstract

The changing religious landscape in Ireland is the context for this analysis of the implications of the insertion of the 8th Amendment to the Irish Constitution (which in 1983 inserted Article 40.3.3 into the Constitution to give the unborn an equal right to life with that of the mother) and its subsequent repeal in the 2018 referendum. It considers how women’s right to abortion (within the limits specified by the Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Act 2018) can be vindicated in the context of claims to freedom of religion or belief and in light of the continuing institutional power of the Catholic church in the provision of healthcare. The broader political implications of the changing religious landscape are also considered, as is the question of whether and how the relationship between religion and politics in Ireland can be re-conceptualised.