Mr. Varadkar’s announcement came one day after The Irish Times published an opinion poll that suggested a majority of Irish people, 56 percent, favor repealing the constitutional ban and permitting abortion for up to 12 weeks into a pregnancy, as recommended by a parliamentary committee. Only 29 percent were opposed to repealing the ban, a stark change from 1983 when nearly 67 percent of voters approved the introduction of the Eighth Amendment. [...]
If repealed, the constitutional ban would be replaced by legislation regulating abortion, most likely permitting it under at least some circumstances. Mr. Varadkar’s government says it will disclose its proposed legislation before voters act on the constitutional provision, but it has yet to formally agree on what the measures might be. An all-party parliamentary committee voted in December in favor of permitting unrestricted abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy, and later in cases of rape, incest or fatal fetal abnormality. [...]
Several thousand Irish women travel abroad for abortions each year, the majority to Britain. Figures from the United Kingdom’s health care service for 2015 showed that at least 3,400 Irish women had gone to England and Wales for abortions that year.
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