Bishops: Abortion is gravely immoral in all circumstances

Irish bishops have told the Citizens’ Assembly that repealing the eighth amendment would “radically change the principle, for all unborn children and indeed for all of us, that the right to life is a fundamental human right”.

In a submission to the assembly, the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference said unborn babies with life- limiting conditions are frequently spoken of as if they were “as good as dead”.

While they said it is “very distressing” for a mother to discover that her baby is seriously ill and, in all probability will not live, “the use of words like ‘fatal’ or ‘lethal’ to describe these conditions implies that there is something definite about the outcome and that death is imminent and inevitable”.