Caroline Simons and Cora Sherlock speaking at a press conference held by the Pro Life Campaign. Repealing the Eighth Amendment would give politicians “exclusive power” in relation to future legislation on abortion, according to a Pro-Life campaign spokesperson.
Caroline Simons, the legal consultant to the Pro Life Campaign, said that the public are being asked to trust politicians who “change their mind on a whim”.
Speaking at a conference in Dublin she said: “What the referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment is concerned with is not any specific legislation that the Government may have in mind but instead it’s about handing power to politicians to decide in future who should be deemed worthy of having their life protected in law and who should not.”
She said that it was “not credible” to separate the referendum and legislating for abortion on demand.
“The two issues are inextricably linked. It is not credible for politicians to say they are in favour of repeal but against abortion on demand,” Ms Simons said, adding that regardless of a person’s position on abortion the removal of the Eighth Amendment “would result in abortion on demand in the short to medium term”.