Taoiseach Enda Kenny has voiced doubts that a referendum aimed at repealing the constitutional protection for the unborn would pass.
According to The Irish Independent, when asked about the issue of the 8th Amendment to the Constitution, which offers equal status to a mother and her unborn child, Mr Kenny said, on a personal basis: “You can’t just remove an article from the Constitution. You have to have the support of the people. I think if that were put to the people today, the result would be unclear.”
Mr Kenny made his remarks in the wake of a survey conducted by The Irish Independent among members of the Taoiseach’s Fine Gael party. That study revealed that fewer than one in four TDs are currently in favour of changing the law so as to allow for abortion based on fatal foetal abnormality.
In all seven members of Fine Gael said they stand opposed to any change, against 15 in favour. A further 30 TDs would not be drawn on the issue, some stating that they have not yet made up their minds. The remainder did not reply.
Mr Kenny, meanwhile, while announcing that Fine Gael party members would be allowed a free vote should a referendum become a reality during the lifetime of the next government, reiterated that the issue of the 8thAmendment will in the first instance be dealt with in the first instance by a ‘Citizens’ Convention’.
