Eighth Amendment committee: Laws make parents feel like ‘outcasts’

Parents forced to go through the torment of giving birth to babies with fatal foetal abnormalities have spoken about being made to feel like “outcasts” by Ireland because of the country’s strict abortion laws.

Members of the Termination for Medical Reasons Ireland group made the remark during harrowing evidence to the Oireachtas committee on the future of the Eighth Amendment.

Speaking during seven hours of public meetings, which also heard concerns over how abortion laws are affecting rape victims and warnings the law has “traumatised” the entire country, Gerry Edwards and Claire Cullen-Delsol said a “straight repeal” is needed.