Dáil committee to examine potential changes to abortion legislation

An Oireachtas committee will be set up this week to examine potential changes to abortion legislation and recommend by the end of the year whether there should be a referendum on the issue.

The committee will assess and add to the work of the Citizens’ Assembly, which has been examining whether to repeal the eighth amendment of the Constitution.

This amendment, made in 1983, gives the right to life to the unborn and effectively bans abortions.