Lessons at home from Ireland vote
On May 24, the Irish people overwhelmingly decided to remove legal protection for the most vulnerable of people — unborn children — and to follow the path of other developed countries to legalize abortion. The life and death of Ireland’s Eighth Amendment in the Irish Constitution sounds a warning to Americans like me who long for a repeal of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision.
The Eighth Amendment was born in 1983, when two-thirds of Irish voters supported a ref- erendum to ban abortion except where the life of the mother was at risk. The amendment was drafted in response to Roe v. Wade as a way to keep Irish courts from taking a similar approach. Nearly 35 years later, twothirds of Irish voters decided to repeal the amendment and legalize abortion.
Several factors lay behind this decision. First, even with the ban, Irish women are still having abortions. Studies show that at least 10 women a day travel from Ireland to the United Kingdom for abortion services. Second, concerns were raised around the health of mothers, especially after one woman died from sepsis following a miscarriage when she was refused an abortion. However, an investigation found this was related to other failures in care and not abortion. Third, since 1983, the influence of the Catholic Church — pivotal when the Eighth Amendment was passed — faded following sexual abuse and other scandals that the Church attempted to cover up.
Perhaps the biggest reason of all, however, is a danger that hits close to home in America as well. As evidenced by the number of women travelling each day for an abortion abroad, not enough was done in Ireland to address the reasons women sought abortions in the first place. Protecting unborn children is vital, but it isn’t enough. More is needed to reduce the pressure to end a pregnancy and make it easier to have and raise a family.
Research into the reasons women choose abortion has identified pressures at work, in school, in bank accounts and within families. With rising costs of living, men and women need to work to make ends meet. However, women still bear primary responsibility for raising children and their pay and career progress can be hampered when they take time off to be with their children. Similarly, schools and universities are designed around students who aren’t parents, making it difficult for young mothers to gain the qualifications they need to pursue a well-paid career. Other pressures stem from child care costs and other expenses, which are particularly challenging when women (or men) find themselves unable to afford staying at home as their partner works.
These pressures raise difficult questions with potentially expensive answers. But these need to be addressed or, as seen in Ireland, any political victories achieved may be short-lived if they aren’t nourished by social change. The answers need not lie in a bigger, more bloated government. If we as a society — individuals, policymakers, businesses and charities — work together, we can create the environment that makes abortion all but unthinkable and enables people at all stages of life’s journey to live to their potential.