Repeal of abortion amendment on Labour’s agenda

A referendum to repeal the eighth amendment on abortion will form part of Labour’s election manifesto, but Tánaiste Joan Burton stopped short of insisting holding the vote would be a “red line issue” for joining a new coalition.

Ms Burton said the party needed to decide what framework would replace the amendment, which gives equal legal weight to the life of the mother and the unborn, should voters decide to do away with the restriction.

Fine Gael Health Minister Leo Varadkar has also called for the amendment to go as he claims it produces a “chilling effect” for doctors.

The Tánaiste said the issue would be a major feature of any programme for a government deal, but refused to be drawn on whether it would be a deal-breaker.

“If we were to go into government that is something that would have to be negotiated with the other potential parties in Government. Negotiating what actually then gets into the programme for government as opposed to individual party platforms, that is another stage in the process.

“But I think the position taken by the Labour Party before the last election to provide for the marriage equality referendum was the correct one. It is going to be part of our platform. We know of the cases where the eighth amendment certainly didn’t help either the mother or the baby and we believe that there is a better way of addressing this and that will be one of the things that will be in our manifesto.

“Whether or not we go into another government, which I think we should, we will have to look then as we go around the country and talk to members and decide what will be in the platform and then we will have to look at the outcome and the negotiation.”

She warned that the party would need to work out what it wanted to replace the amendment with before a referendum.

The Tánaiste said legal advice said the amendment prevented legislating for terminations in the case of fatal foetal abnormalities.

Ms Burton side-stepped whether Labour was a pro-choice party, stating: “In the Labour party we have a whole range of views, we reflect the kaleidoscope and rainbow colour that is the Irish nation now.”