Pro-choice campaigners call for Eighth Amendment referendum 'this Autumn'

Pro-choice campaigners are calling for a referendum this Autumn on the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution.

The Citizen’s Assembly recommended last month that the provision, which guarantees the equal right to life of the mother and unborn child, be replaced.

However, others have called for the amendment to be removed entirely from the Constitution.

An Oireachtas Committee is being set up to examine the next steps, and People Before Profit TD Brid Smith says it must start its work immediately.

"We're going to argue very strongly that it starts meeting straight away and works right throughout the summer so that there can be a referendum in the Autumn.

"The Autumn could be October, even late October, but there is definitely enough time to get it done.

"What we don't need is a cue of witnesses from various advocacy groups coming in the door as was done with the Citizen's Assembly."