AN OIREACHTAS committee has voted in favour of recommending the repeal of the Eighth Amendment and to allow unrestricted terminations up to 12 weeks.
The proposal to remove the amendment from the constitution was made by Labour TD Jan O’Sullivan and received 14 votes in favour and six against.
The cross-party committee of TDs and senators voted 12-5 in favour of legalising unrestricted abortions up to 12 weeks, with four members abstaining.
The committee voted in favour of recommending abortion if a woman's life or health was at risk and determined that a distinction should not be made between physical or mental health.
Wednesday's vote also saw them support terminations in cases of rape.
Members voted in favour of allowing abortions in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities, but not for non life-threatening abnormalities.
The committee also rejected a proposal to allow terminations beyond 12 weeks where socio-economic conditions were a factor.
While the committee voted to decriminalise abortions in cases where a woman had procured a termination, it recommended that abortions could only take place in licensed premises or hospitals, or through the legal procurement of abortion pills.
The committee's recommendations will be included in next week's final report, which will be sent to the Oireachtas for consideration.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that following this stage, a referendum on the issue could be held in May next year.
'Electorate will have final say'
The Abortion Rights Campaign welcomed the recommendations although felt they didn't go far enough.
Spokesperson Sarah Monaghan said: “We welcome the recommendation to allow access to abortion without restrictions as to reason.
“However restricting this to only the first 12 weeks of pregnancy is far from the barrier-free access required to provide women and pregnant people in Ireland with proper, compassionate care.
“Nonetheless, it was encouraging to see the Committee recommending that the abortion pill be made available via GPs, and that those seeking abortion as a result of rape not be required to ‘prove’ their attack.
“We were also pleased to see a recommendation for access to abortion without gestational limits in cases of fatal foetal abnormality.
“However, the Committee’s decision to reject similar access in cases of serious foetal anomaly will affect families who may not receive an accurate diagnosis until later in pregnancy.”
Meanwhile Cora Sherlock from the Pro Life Campaign said the recommendations show a ‘frightening disregard for the right to life’.
She said: “The decision to opt for a time limit of 12 weeks on request was plucked from thin air.
“It reveals a frightening disregard for the right to life of the most innocent and defenceless members of society, namely unborn babies.”
She added: “When any group is handed the power to decide who’s in and who’s out, it follows that they feel they have permission to conclude that no unborn babies are deserving of any protections under the law. And that’s effectively what the committee decided today.
“But thankfully they won’t have the final say on the Eighth Amendment.
"The electorate will have that responsibility and I am confident they will vote to keep it.”
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