Repeal of Eighth ‘would not give Oireachtas pre-1983 freedom’

A senior legal academic has said repealing the Eighth Amendment would not give the Oireachtas the same freedom it had before the Amendment.

Professor Gerard Whyte of Trinity College Dublin (TCD), who has co-edited books on law and religion, addressed a recent conference on abortion hosted by two Catholic academic groups.

He told the conference that repealing the Eighth would be an “explicit decision of the people to remove constitutional protection from the unborn”, The Irish Times reports.

Professor Whyte (pictured) added: “In my opinion, that factor has to be taken into account by both the Oireachtas and the courts in evaluating what might constitute an objectively justified interest in limiting the constitutional rights of the mother.

“In particular, I contend that it means that the Oireachtas would not have the same freedom of manoeuvre post any deletion of the Eighth Amendment as it had in 1983.”

He said that meant “all constitutional protection” for “the unborn” would be removed, denying that it would merely remove the “constitutional equivalence” between the right to life of the unborn and of the mother.

Professor Whyte said no presentation to the Citizens’ Assembly or the Oireachtas committee on the Eighth addressed the argument that “a popular decision to withdraw constitutional recognition from the right to life of the unborn would tie the hands of the Oireachtas (and the judiciary) when it comes to the question of protecting foetal life”.