While there now appears to be a broad consensus across political parties that change is needed, the exact nature of that change is decidedly less clear. The Citizen’s Assembly was established in the aftermath of the general election in 2016 by the Fine Gael-Independent Government to consider exactly what should Ireland’s approach to abortion should be. On the basis of this a Dáil committee would be established to consider those recommendations.
On April 23rd 2017 the Assembly recommended that Ireland should adopt a significantly more liberal regime than is currently in place. They recommended that abortions should be lawful if:
- There is a risk to the life of the woman
- There is a risk to the health of the woman
- There is a serious risk to the mental health of the woman
- The pregnancy is as a result of rape
- If the child has a fatal foetal abnormality
- For socio-economic reasons
The Dáil has established a cross party committee to consider these recommendations and issue a report to the Dáil. They start the bulk of their work from September onwards. Now that we know what the Assembly has recommended, where do each of Ireland’s political parties and their representative groups in UCD stand on the issue?
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