New campaign group calls for abortion referendum

There are fresh calls for a referendum on abortion, with a new campaign group urging a repeal of the eighth amendment giving an equal right to the life of a pregnant woman and the unborn child.

They want the question of allowing terminations in cases of rape or when a foetus has no chance of survival outside the womb, to be discussed by the Constitutional Convention. The Abortion Rights Campaign will be supported by a number of TDs who plan to raise the issue in the Dáil.

Senior ministers have acknowledged the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Act, passed in the summer, is not perfect because it does not allow abortions in cases of rape, incest or fatal foetal abnormalities. But Coalition parties are unlikely to want to revisit the thorny subject soon, particularly Fine Gael, who lost five TDs over the legislation.