Irish bishops urge Citizens’ Assembly to retain pro-life amendment

The Irish bishops have appealed to members of the Citizens’ Assembly examining the Irish constitution’s pro-life eighth amendment not to recommend its deletion because thousands of Irish people are alive today as a direct result of its enactment, writes Sarah Mac Donald.

In its submission titled, “Two Lives, One Love”, the bishops said deleting or amending Article 40.3.3 would serve no purpose other than to withdraw the right to life of some unborn children.

“To do so would radically change the principle, for all unborn children and indeed for all of us, that the right to life is a fundamental human right,” they warned the assembly, an independent group mandated to examine issues including abortion and climate change and report back to parliament. The bishops stressed that every unborn child, irrespective of his or her medical condition or the circumstances of his or her birth, has the right to be treated equally before the law. “There is no such thing as a human life without value,” they emphasised.

“We believe that human life is sacred from conception until natural death and that Article 40.3.3 reflects the appropriate balance.”