Sir, – It is quite clear that a large proportion of people in Ireland want a referendum on the Eighth Amendment. Some want it to be repealed and replaced, others want it removed, other again see in a referendum the opportunity to reinforce the status quo by re-endorsing the amendment.
A demand for a referendum is not necessarily a claim for one outcome or another.
Rather it is demand for the opportunity to revisit an issue that concerns a great number of people – men and women, anti-abortion and pro-choice– in Ireland.
In spite of that – and in spite of the fact that there are well-informed proposals for what might replace it, or what legislation might be introduced in the event of its repeal in the public domain – the Taoiseach and the leader of Fianna Fáil have refused to commit to a referendum after the election.
This and previous Irish governments defend Irish abortion law in international forums by saying that it represents “the will of the people”.
Surely the veracity of that claim must be questioned when the Eighth Amendment remains such a focus of contention, debate and protest, and when so many women whose choices it so firmly constrains, as well as the men and women who love them, have never been given the opportunity to liberalise Irish abortion law.
There is sufficient evidence from opinion polls, if nothing else, to suggest that the will of the people may have changed since 1983. If politicians govern in accordance with our will, why are they so reluctant to ascertain what it is? – Yours, etc,
Prof FIONA de LONDRAS,
School of Law,
University of Birmingham.