Twenty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland Bill, 2002
Encyclopedia
The Twenty-fifth Amendment was a failed attempt to amend
the Constitution of Ireland
to tighten the constitutional ban on abortion. It would have removed the threat of suicide
as a grounds for legal abortion
in the state, as well as introducing new penalties for anyone performing an abortion. It was narrowly rejected in the 2002 abortion referendum.
The full title of the proposal was the Twenty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy) Bill, 2001. After it was rejected the number 25 was not reused; instead the next successful amendment of the constitution was entitled the "Twenty-sixth Amendment
". There has therefore officially been no successfully enacted "Twenty-fifth Amendment" of the Irish constitution.
introduced a constitutional ban on abortion in Ireland
. The "X Case
" in 1992 established the right of Irish women to an abortion if a pregnant woman's life was at risk because of pregnancy
, including the risk of suicide. Following the X Case, three separate constitutional amendments on the subject of abortion were put to a vote in the 1992 abortion referendums
. One proposed to tighten the law on abortion. This was the Twelfth Amendment
, which proposed that the possibility of suicide was not a sufficient threat to justify an abortion, but was rejected. Two other amendments proposed to liberalise the law in certain ways and were approved. These were the Thirteenth Amendment
, which guaranteed freedom of travel
to obtain an abortion abroad, and the Fourteenth Amendment
, which guaranteed freedom of speech
with respect to the issue.
The Twenty-fifth Amendment was a second attempt to tighten the law on abortion following the rejection of the Twelfth Amendment in 1992. It was introduced by the Fianna Fáil
–Progressive Democrats
coalition government of Bertie Ahern
. The government presented the amendment as one part of a comprehensive package of changes to address the issue of crisis pregnancy. Among other measures it would have removed the threat of suicide as a grounds for legal abortion and also would have introduced new penalties of up to twelve years in jail, for those performing or assisting abortions. Along with the government parties, the Catholic Church favoured the proposal, it was opposed by Fine Gael
, the Labour Party
, the Green Party
and Sinn Féin
. The proposal was put to a referendum on 6 March 2002 but was narrowly rejected by 629,041 (50.4%) against to 618,485 (49.6%) in favour.
The Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy Act would, among other provisions, have
The Twenty-fifth Amendment proposed first of all to add a temporary section to the constitution called Article 46.5. This section provided that the Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy Act had to be enacted within 180 days. Once this occurred Article 46.5 would be deleted and two permanent provisions would be added: Article 40.3.4 and Article 40.3.5.
The temporary Article 46.5 provided that if no action was taken within 180 days then the whole constitutional amendment would lapse. It also stated that the bill for the Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy Act could not be referred by the President of Ireland
to the Supreme Court or to an ordinary referendum
.
The proposed amendment was called the "Twenty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy) Bill, 2001" because an earlier proposal called the "Twenty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 2001" had already been introduced. This was as a private member's bill by Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin
to guarantee Irish neutrality. It had lapsed after its first reading but the existence of that bill necessitated the inclusion of the parenthetical qualification "(Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy)" in the name of the later bill.
Constitutional amendment
A constitutional amendment is a formal change to the text of the written constitution of a nation or state.Most constitutions require that amendments cannot be enacted unless they have passed a special procedure that is more stringent than that required of ordinary legislation...
the Constitution of Ireland
Constitution of Ireland
The Constitution of Ireland is the fundamental law of the Irish state. The constitution falls broadly within the liberal democratic tradition. It establishes an independent state based on a system of representative democracy and guarantees certain fundamental rights, along with a popularly elected...
to tighten the constitutional ban on abortion. It would have removed the threat of suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
as a grounds for legal abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
in the state, as well as introducing new penalties for anyone performing an abortion. It was narrowly rejected in the 2002 abortion referendum.
The full title of the proposal was the Twenty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy) Bill, 2001. After it was rejected the number 25 was not reused; instead the next successful amendment of the constitution was entitled the "Twenty-sixth Amendment
Twenty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland
The Twenty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland permitted the state to ratify the Treaty of Nice. It was effected by the Twenty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 2002, which was approved by referendum on 19 October 2002 and signed into law on 7 November of the same year...
". There has therefore officially been no successfully enacted "Twenty-fifth Amendment" of the Irish constitution.
Overview
In 1983 the Eighth AmendmentEighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland
The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland introduced a constitutional ban on abortion. It was effected by the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1983, which was approved by referendum on 7 September 1983 and signed into law on the 7 October of the same year.-Changes to the...
introduced a constitutional ban on abortion in Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. The "X Case
Attorney General v. X
Attorney General v. X was a 1992 Irish Supreme Court case which established the right of Irish women to an abortion if a pregnant woman's life was at risk because of pregnancy, including the risk of suicide....
" in 1992 established the right of Irish women to an abortion if a pregnant woman's life was at risk because of pregnancy
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
, including the risk of suicide. Following the X Case, three separate constitutional amendments on the subject of abortion were put to a vote in the 1992 abortion referendums
Irish constitutional referendum, November 1992
Three referendums were held simultaneously in Ireland on 25 November 1992, each on a proposed amendment of the Irish constitution.. All three proposals related to abortion. Two of the measures were approved, while the third was rejected.-Twelfth amendment:...
. One proposed to tighten the law on abortion. This was the Twelfth Amendment
Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland Bill, 1992
The Twelfth Amendment was a failed proposal to amend the Constitution of Ireland, to state that suicide should not be considered a sufficient reason to legally allow an abortion. It was rejected in the 1992 referendum on abortion and the risk of suicide....
, which proposed that the possibility of suicide was not a sufficient threat to justify an abortion, but was rejected. Two other amendments proposed to liberalise the law in certain ways and were approved. These were the Thirteenth Amendment
Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland
The Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland specified that the prohibition of abortion would not limit freedom of travel in and out of the state...
, which guaranteed freedom of travel
Freedom of movement
Freedom of movement, mobility rights or the right to travel is a human right concept that the constitutions of numerous states respect...
to obtain an abortion abroad, and the Fourteenth Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland
The Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland specified that the prohibition of abortion would not limit the right to distribute information about abortion services in foreign countries...
, which guaranteed freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
with respect to the issue.
The Twenty-fifth Amendment was a second attempt to tighten the law on abortion following the rejection of the Twelfth Amendment in 1992. It was introduced by the Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
–Progressive Democrats
Progressive Democrats
The Progressive Democrats , commonly known as the PDs, was a pro-free market liberal political party in the Republic of Ireland.Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Malley and other politicians who had split from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrats took liberal positions on...
coalition government of Bertie Ahern
Bertie Ahern
Patrick Bartholomew "Bertie" Ahern is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008....
. The government presented the amendment as one part of a comprehensive package of changes to address the issue of crisis pregnancy. Among other measures it would have removed the threat of suicide as a grounds for legal abortion and also would have introduced new penalties of up to twelve years in jail, for those performing or assisting abortions. Along with the government parties, the Catholic Church favoured the proposal, it was opposed by Fine Gael
Fine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...
, the Labour Party
Labour Party (Ireland)
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...
, the Green Party
Green Party (Ireland)
The Green Party is a green political party in Ireland. It was founded as the Ecology Party of Ireland in 1981 by Dublin teacher Christopher Fettes. The party became the Green Alliance in 1983 and in 1987 was renamed to its current title in English...
and Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
. The proposal was put to a referendum on 6 March 2002 but was narrowly rejected by 629,041 (50.4%) against to 618,485 (49.6%) in favour.
Proposed changes
The Twenty-fifth Amendment was much more complex than the proposal that had been rejected in 1992. As well as adding new text to the constitution it proposed to introduce a complete code for regulating the law on abortion. The government did not wish to include this lengthy code in the text of constitution, rather it was to take the form of an Act of the Oireachtas, called the Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy Act, 2002. This Act would be mentioned in the constitution and given special protection, so that in future it could only be amended by referendum. The Twenty-fifth Amendment was intended to add the following provisions to the constitution:- Article 40.3.4:
- In particular the life of the unborn in the womb shall be protected in accordance with the provisions of the Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy Act 2002.
- Article 40.3.5:
- The provisions of section 2 of Article 46 [concerning constitutional amendments] and sections 1, 3 and 4 of Article 47 of this Constitution [concerning referendums] shall apply to any Bill passed or deemed to have been passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas containing a proposal to amend the Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy Act, 2002, as they apply to a Bill containing a proposal or proposals for the amendment of this Constitution and any such Bill shall be signed by the President forthwith upon his being satisfied that the Bill has been duly approved by the people in accordance with the provisions of section 1 of Article 47 of this Constitution and shall be duly promulgated by the President as a law.
The Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy Act would, among other provisions, have
- Defined abortion as the destruction of unborn life after implantation in the womb.
- Permitted abortion where necessary to prevent loss of life other than by suicide.
- Reiterated that the right to freedom of travel is not affected by the ban on abortion.
- Made an unlawful abortion an offence punishable by up to twelve years in prison.
Amendment procedure
It was intended that the Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy Act would be enacted by the Oireachtas only after the Twenty-fifth Amendment had come into force. This meant that the Amendment was a complex piece of legislation. It proposed to insert a number of temporary provisions in the constitution to bridge the period between the enactment of the Twenty-fifth Amendment and the subsequent enacted of the Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy Act.The Twenty-fifth Amendment proposed first of all to add a temporary section to the constitution called Article 46.5. This section provided that the Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy Act had to be enacted within 180 days. Once this occurred Article 46.5 would be deleted and two permanent provisions would be added: Article 40.3.4 and Article 40.3.5.
The temporary Article 46.5 provided that if no action was taken within 180 days then the whole constitutional amendment would lapse. It also stated that the bill for the Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy Act could not be referred by the President of Ireland
President of Ireland
The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...
to the Supreme Court or to an ordinary referendum
Ordinary referendum
The ordinary referendum is a referendum in the Republic of Ireland in which the president may refer a bill directly to the electorate before it becomes law. Articles 27 and 47 of the Constitution of Ireland provides for a referendum on a proposal other than a proposal to amend the constitution...
.
The proposed amendment was called the "Twenty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy) Bill, 2001" because an earlier proposal called the "Twenty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 2001" had already been introduced. This was as a private member's bill by Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin is a Sinn Féin politician from Ireland. He has been a Teachta Dála for the Cavan–Monaghan constituency since 1997 and was the parliamentary leader of Sinn Féin in Dáil Éireann from 1997–2011.-Biography:Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin was born in Monaghan in 1953. He was educated at St....
to guarantee Irish neutrality. It had lapsed after its first reading but the existence of that bill necessitated the inclusion of the parenthetical qualification "(Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy)" in the name of the later bill.
Referendum result
Breakdown
The result of the referendum showed a strong rural-urban divide. The urban constituencies Cork North Central and South Central voted "no" along with all Dublin city and county constituencies, the commuter-heavy Kildare constituencies and Wicklow, Galway West, Limerick East and Waterford. All other constituencies recorded a "yes" vote. The strongest "no" vote was in Dun Laoghaire where 68% of voters were against the proposed amendment. The strongest "yes" was in Donegal North East which recorded a 70% vote in favour of the amendment.External links
- Twenty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy) Bill, 2001 Oireachtas debates and text of bill
- Committee on Health and Children - 2001 includes committee stage debates of the bill
- Full text of the Constitution of Ireland (Accurate up to and including the Twenty-seventh Amendment from Department of the Taoiseach)