Simon Coveney's plan for ‘legal lock’ on abortion law in tatters

Tánaiste Simon Coveney has been left humiliated after his two-thirds Dáil majority ‘legal lock’ plan for the Government’s post-referendum abortion law was labelled “unconstitutional”, naive, and deeply damaging to the Yes campaign.

Mr Coveney was forced into an embarrassing U-turn hours after putting the plan forward after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, cabinet colleagues, opposition parties, and pro-life groups all said it is not workable under any circumstances.

As revealed in yesterday’s Irish Examiner, in return for his new-found support for the post-referendum unrestricted access to abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy, Mr Coveney said that he wanted to make any new legislation more difficult to change.