The Citizens’ Assembly tasked with discussing the future of the constitutional protection for the unborn is reportedly leaning towards ending that protection. Following the latest gathering of the 99 members under the chairmanship of Judge Mary Laffoy, the clearest indication yet of attitudes to the Eighth Amendment was gained from a number of questions posed to groups. One, on whether “the right to life of the unborn child should continue to be constitutionally protected in the same way as now”, drew “no” from 10 of 14 table groupings, with a further 2 stating “yes”, although under a more liberal abortion regime. The remaining two did not express clear opinions on the issue. When asked if “abortion should be lawfully available in Ireland in more circumstances than is currently the case”, nine of the 14 tables responded “yes”. Of the five that gave no explicit response, two expressed opinions that suggested they were leaning towards “yes”.