Tánaiste ‘concerned’ but says 8th no longer tenable

Tánaiste Simon Coveney has voiced concerns about the welfare of the unborn over proposals to legalise abortions in all cases up to 12 weeks of gestation.

However, while speaking at a five-hour meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party, Mr Coveney said that while he had concerns over the proposals of the Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment, he accepted that the status quo was no longer tenable.

The committee proposed legalising abortions in all circumstances up to 12 weeks and also for a straight repealing of the 1983 amendment.