Abortion and the right to life under the irish constitution

Abstract Ireland's Constitutional amendment on abortion in 1983, at first used by the Supreme Court to suppress the provision of information and counselling, was finally used to justify an abortion on a 14-year-old victim of rape. Instead of copper-fastening the law prohibiting abortion, as its proponents had intended, the amendment has opened up the possibility of abortions being conducted, within the law, in Ireland. Attempts by pro-life groups to stifle information on abortion has led to challenge to Ireland's laws through the European Community and the European Convention on Human Rights, and eventually to further amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing freedom of information on abortion and the right to travel overseas for abortion services. Although immediate legislative or judicial change is unlikely, there remains scope for further liberalisation of the law without new Constitutional amendment.