Debating the Eighth

The contentious 1983 Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of Ireland introduced a prohibition on the provision of abortion within the Irish State. In the decades since, further referendums, court cases, and legislation have tried to adjust and clarify the scope of this provision, in the midst of bitter and angry debate. With the current government promising a referendum on the Eighth in May/June 2018, the debate is growing again. But in the midst of claim and counter-claim, media debates, Twitter rants, and false news fears on Facebook, what are the arguments for retaining or repealing the Eighth? Here, sixteen contributors put forward their positions.