Taoiseach concerned that abortion proposals ‘go too far’

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he is concerned that proposals to allow abortions on request up to 12 weeks may be “a step too far” for most Irish people, The Irish Times reports.

Mr Varadkar said the legislative recommendation from the Oireachtas committee on the Eighth Amendment “went further than many people may have anticipated”.

He added that it “went further than I would have anticipated a year or two ago”, but also that he understood “the logic behind” the report given the widespread availability of the abortion pill.

The proposed referendum on repealing the Eighth Amendment was the main item of discussion at the first Cabinet meeting of the year.