Colm Fitzpatrick
Withdrawing the sole existing constitutional right to life from unborn human beings would be a “profound injustice”, an Irish legal professional has said.
Barrister Benedict Ó Floinn BL, one of the signatories of a statement opposing the repeal of the Eighth Amendment said that he hopes the letter, which was signed by 100 legal professionals including two former High Court judges, would allow voters to reconsider their stance on the issue.
“We would hope that when people have an opportunity to consider the point that they make that they then conclude with us that anything other than a ‘no’ vote would be a profound injustice,” Mr Ó Floinn told The Irish Catholic.
He added that there is no ambiguity about the legal implications of the constitutional provision being repealed but that people on both sides of the debate perceive the meaning of those implications differently.
“Both sides are agreed that if the Eighth Amendment is repealed, then existing constitutional rights of the unborn will disappear.
“The other side describe that as a constitutional space within which to legislate and we describe that differently but both sides are agreed that that’s the effect of repeal – that those existing constitutional rights will be taken away and, in its place, will be legislation which we believe is unjust,” he said.
Legislation
The group of 100 lawyers stated on April 19 that what is being proposed through the legislation if the amendment is repealed is “not simply abortion in exceptional cases but a wide-ranging right to abortion” as limitations in the legislation could be removed at any time without the consent of the people.
Mr Ó Floinn said that there would be “uproar” in any other context if people’s constitutional rights were removed and placed in the hands of politicians to legislate freely.
“If we were talking about any other area of rights that argument wouldn’t be entertained.
“So for example, if it was suggested that adult people’s right to life or a good name or property rights should be taken out of the Constitution and should be entrusted to politicians in legislation, there’d be an uproar.”