_WORLD WATCH______________________________
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Ireland ________________
Bishops back referendum
Pro-life groups at odds over measure
The Irish Catholic bishops have released a statement welcoming the announcement that a national referendum on abortion will be held on March 6.
The referendum will propose a constitutional amendment banning abortion. Although the Irish constitution already affirms the right to life for all unborn children, the proposed amendment would overturn the effect of a controversial judicial decision that allowed abortion in cases where the mother threatens suicide. [For more on the referendum, see the story on page 33.]
The bishops’ statement referred back to their previous statement, issued last December 12, underlining the Catholic teaching that all human life is sacred from the moment of conception. In that December statement, the bishops had expressed their support for the government’s referendum question, saying that the vote would give the people of Ireland “an opportunity that should not be lost.”
The abortion referendum has split the Irish pro-life movement, because while the wording of the measure to be approved would close some loopholes, it could also open the way for approval of the “morning-after” pill. Moreover, critics argue that while the language of the proposed constitutional amendment would direct the government to pass legislation protecting unborn children, that protection would no longer be incorporated into the Irish constitution itself.
The referendum proposal would solve a constitutional impasse created by the Irish judiciary in the infamous “X” case, in which the country’s highest court found that a woman had the right to a legal abortion if pregnancy would threaten her life or health. The decision allowed for a very wide definition of “health,” specifically indicating that the threat of suicide—credible or not—would be sufficient grounds for a determination that the woman’s health was in jeopardy.
The amendment proposed by the government would specify that abortion could be performed only if the mother’s life was in jeopardy. It would also call for protection of all life from “implantation to birth.” The use of “implantation,” rather than conception as a starting point for the legal protection of the unborn has led some pro-life groups to complain that the amendment would, in effect, offer constitutional approval for the morning-after pill. Some pro-life activists insist that, because the amendment would thus provide legal sanction for abortion, no Catholic should vote for the measure.
Apparently in response to such concerns, the bishops’ latest statement emphasizes that the referendum should be seen as “an anti-abortion measure, rather than a comprehensive pro-life amendment.” But the bishops reiterated their stand that voters could give the proposed amendment their full support.