Ireland’s pro-abortion advocates have been loudly calling for the nation to repeal its 8th amendment, which outlaws abortion, but it appears their efforts might not succeed when Ireland’s referendum heads to a vote in May.
While 40 percent of Irish people support unrestricted abortion until 12 weeks in pregnancy, 33 percent think allowing unrestricted abortion until this pregnancy date goes too far, according to a poll in the Independent. Roughly 20 percent are undecided. The poll included 970 respondents and was conducted across Britain Feb. 6 to 14.
Fewer than three in 10 Irish support elective abortions however, according to Breaking News. Support for elective abortions (namely, abortions for reasons other than to save the mother’s life, rape cases and grave fetal abnormalities) is low, indicating Britain’s Repeal The 8th campaign will likely fail.
The campaign seeks to repeal Ireland’s 8th amendment, which outlaws and penalizes those who attempt or successfully abort an unborn child. The campaign calls the law “archaic and dangerous” and has pointed to polls that indicate “a rebellion is taking hold amongst the electorate,” according to Dublin-based European analyst David Higgins. Higgins points out, however, the polls show something very different.
Another set of disastrous poll numbers for the #8thref campaign. I’ve updated my poll model. It shows #repealthe8th support declining much faster than during #marref. pic.twitter.com/rGIOF1GtN5
— David Higgins (@higginsdavidw) February 18, 2018
“All opinion polls should be taken with a grain of salt,” Life Institute spokesperson Niamh UiBhriain said, according to LifeNews. “These new figures represent a notional 16 percent swing towards opposition in a two-week period. This tallies with the experience of our campaign, which has been that the more people find out about the government’s extreme proposal, the more they reject it,” she continued.
Updated chart, with overlay of the 2013 Seanad referendum. Another vote which began big, but fell hard and fast. #8thref will be no different. As @ReginaDo has highlighted today, there’s a massive fight ahead to win this thing! pic.twitter.com/6u1bnLRVFu
— David Higgins (@higginsdavidw) February 18, 2018
“I am convinced that a majority of Irish people, once the facts are explained, will continue to support retention of the current equal protection of the lives of mothers and their unborn babies,” Society For The Protection Of Unborn Children (SPUC) spokesperson Pat Buckley said, according to LifeNews.
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“We have abortion in Ireland, but it is unsafe, unregulated and unlawful; and in my opinion, we cannot export our problems and import our solutions,” Ireland Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said, according to The Guardian.
The nation will hold a referendum on reforming the 8th amendment by the end of May.
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