How did we reach the cusp of fourth vote?
How long has there been a ban on abortion in Ireland?
The prohibition on abortion pre-dates the foundation of the State.
In 1861 the Offences Against the Person Act came into law across Great Britain and Ireland and remained the criminal law on abortion here until 2013.
The act made it an offence for a woman to “procure her own miscarriage” through the use of poison or instruments.
It also made it a crime to assist a woman to do so. Both offences were punishable by a term of up to life in prison.
The act also made it an offence to supply or procure a poison or instrument which could be used to procure a miscarriage. This carried a jail term of up to five years.
But if there was a legal ban on abortion, why was the Eighth Amendment also introduced?
In the early 1980s, pro-life campaigners sought an amendment to the Constitution which would prevent the Supreme Court from interpreting the Constitution as allowing a right to abortion.
A constitutional ban on abortion was introduced following a referendum on the Eighth Amendment in 1983.
The amendment, which passed with a 66.9pc majority, said: “The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.”
Did the Supreme Court eventually have a say on the abortion issue anyway?
Yes. The 1992 ‘X case’ ruling established that terminations should be lawful when a woman’s life is in danger or she is at risk of suicide.
The case involved a 14-year-old girl who became pregnant as a result of rape and who was deemed to have a real and substantial risk to her life due to the threat of suicide.
Despite the ruling, no legislation was introduced at the time to allow abortion to protect the mother’s life.
But there were a series of referendums. One, seeking to roll back the Supreme Court judgment and remove suicide as a grounds for abortion in Ireland, was rejected.
Two others passed. These allowed for the freedom to travel outside the State for an abortion and the freedom to obtain or make available information on abortion services outside the country.
Wasn’t there a further referendum on the suicide grounds issue?
There was. In 2002 voters narrowly rejected a constitutional amendment which proposed allowing abortion where a mother’s life was at risk, but not in the case of a suicide threat.
When was legislation brought in to give statutory legal effect to the X case judgment?
This finally happened in 2013 with the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act. It was also a response to a 2010 European Court of Human Rights ruling that the rights of a woman battling cancer had been violated as she was unable to get sufficient information about her options when she became pregnant.
The act legislated for access to abortion in Ireland where there was a risk to the life of the mother from physical illness or from suicide.
It came into force a year after the death of Savita Halappanavar sparked widespread debate over access to abortion.
She died after being refused a termination during a miscarriage because a foetal heartbeat could still be detected.
How have we now reached the cusp of a fourth abortion referendum?
Amid mounting international pressure, including criticism from the UN Human Rights Committee, the Fine Gael and Independents Coalition committed in 2016 to the establishment of a Citizens’ Assembly to make recommendations on constitutional changes, including the Eighth Amendment.
Last year the convention recommended the replacement of the amendment – and a provision in the Constitution for the Oireachtas to legislate on abortion, the rights of the unborn and the rights of pregnant women. The assembly recommended that terminations be allowed without restriction up to 12 weeks, and that terminations in the case of fatal foetal abnormality be permitted during any period of a pregnancy.
An Oireachtas committee which considered the convention findings subsequently recommended the repeal of the Eighth Amendment. Its report said it was unfit for purpose.
The committee voted in favour of legalising terminations up to 12 weeks with no restrictions.
It also voted in favour of allowing terminations, if there is a real and substantial physical risk to the life or the health of the woman or where the unborn child has a life-limiting condition that is likely to result in death before or shortly after birth.
What will voters be asked to decide?
That is not yet clear. The Cabinet is expected to decide shortly on the wording of the referendum. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said it is intended to hold the referendum by the summer.