The Government is to consider an Oireachtas report recommending a referendum be held to liberalise Ireland’s abortion laws and allow for terminations for pregnancies up to 12 weeks.

The death of Savita Halappanavar five years ago has not yet lead to a transformation of the law on abortion but change will surely happen before much longer, writes Alison O’Connor

THERE are more than 1,000 abortions taking place in Ireland each year. Yes, they are happening every day, right under our noses, and as time goes on that figure is going to rise substantially, writes Alison O’Connor.

The Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI), responding to the Government’s announcement of a referendum to be held on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, call on participants in the public debate to be respectful and informed by the best available facts and compassionate understanding when discussing the realities facing girls and women in Ireland pregnant following rape.

Latest: Minister for Health Simon Harris has said that it is important that the Citizens’ Assembly final report on the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution is given full consideration.

Unlike the Convention on the Constitution that preceded it there were no politicians appointed to the Citizen’s Assembly, writes Alison O’Connor

Democratic and informed debate is predicated on all sides and all viewpoints being able to make their point freely and that is why Fathers4Justice have launched a campaign calling for the Eighth Amendment to be changed to reflect what they view as the unrecognised rights of fathers in the constitution, argues the group's International Campaign Co-Ordinator, Nadine O'Connor. 

Poorer women accept the pregnancy because they can’t raise €1,000 to fund a termination abroad, writes Alison O’Connor

The offer of compensation to a woman who successfully complained to the United Nations about Ireland’s abortion laws, is a recognition by the State that she was subjected to “cruel, inhuman and degrading” treatment because she was forced to travel to seek an abortion, the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) has said.

Four years on from the death of Savita Halappanavar, the people of Ireland have shown they have not forgotten her.

How can that elusive balance be achieved with a sort of random selection? Yet how can it not be done that way either? ask Alison O’Connor

Paschal Donohoe claims a referendum on the Eighth Amendment will go ahead in the near future.

Unscripted remarks by President Michael D Higgins’ wife, Sabina, on abortion have provoked outrage in the pro-life movement, which described them as “calculated and inappropriate”.

THE best way for us to sort the issue of abortion in Ireland is to take politicians out of the decision making process.