Repeal vote won’t mean unrestricted access to abortion, say legal experts

Any vote to repeal the Eighth Amendment will not lead to “abortion on demand” due to the separate legal and political hurdles such a result is almost certain to face.

Three independent legal experts made the prediction as a number of them separately said the Government should publish any legislation that would replace the Eighth Amendment before the referendum takes place.

Speaking during the latest meeting of the cross-party Oireachtas committee on the Eighth Amendment, Trinity College assistant professor of law David Kenny, Birmingham University’s global legal studies’ chair Fiona de Londras, and senior counsel Mary O’Toole said a repeal vote was unlikely to lead to unrestricted access to abortion.