A Proposal For A Legalization Of Abortion - 1585 Words

Executive Summary The purpose of this policy paper is to address the egregious violation of rights that Ireland has submitted it’s citizens to by outlawing abortion procedures. This proposal calls primarily for a decriminalization of abortion and for the government to examine the religiosity of both Ireland’s political administration and the cultural view of abortion. The 2013 Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act fails to protect the maternal health of woman and is failing due to the vagueness in language and inconsistency in implementation. That being said, the source of the problem lies in the Eight Amendment of the Bunreacht na hÉireann, the Irish Constitution, that defends that a fetus is an effective Irish citizen at the time of†¦show more content†¦Women can experience serious, life threatening, and sometimes fatal complications during a pregnancy. The United Nations affirms that denying access to abortion legally qualifies as torture as a dangerou s pregnancy constitutes as an act by of severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental (Convention Against Torture). Protection against this type of reproductive right violation is guaranteed by the The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, specifically Article 16.1; The Right to Decide the Number and Spacing of Children (CEDAW). In December of 1985 Ireland acceded the Convention. Although Ireland did not ratify CEDAW and the document is not legally binding, adhering to these human rights norms is an expectation that is on place on all the UN Member States. By criminalizing abortion Ireland violates these basic human rights and infringes on a women’s right to reproductive freedom 2. Origin/History of the Problem and Current Context†¨ The Republic of Ireland has been view in the international community as a â€Å"morally conservative country† (Bloomer 368). Contraception only became available in 1973 and divorce was prohibited until 1997. In 1983 the Eight Amendment to the Irish Constitution (Article 40.3.3) equated the life of an unborn child to that of it’s mothers and thus abortion was prohibited. Recently in 2013, the Irish government sought to try and appease critiques of their strict abortion ban when the government passed