Survey reveals just 24% back legalised terminations in all cases up to 22 weeks, ahead of planned referendum next year

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Irish voters would reject any move to legalise abortion in all circumstances up to 22 weeks, an opinion poll has found.



As the prime minister, Leo Varadkar, and his minority Fine Gael government prepare to frame an abortion reform referendum scheduled for next year, it has emerged that only 24% of voters are in favour of legalising terminations in nearly all cases.



According to an Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll published on Friday, 57% of the Irish electorate would favour allowing abortion in cases of rape, fatal foetal abnormalities and when there is a real risk to a woman’s life.



A clear majority – about 70% – would vote in favour of repealing the eighth amendment to the Irish Republic’s constitution, which gives equal rights to a foetus and a pregnant woman.

Pro-choice campaigners say the eighth amendment creates a “chill factor” for medical teams who might otherwise carry out terminations under the current law, which allows for terminations where there is a direct threat to a mother’s life or there are indications that a woman would kill herself if the pregnancy continues.



In 2014, a woman who was raped in her home country was forced to give birth by caesarean section in an Irish hospital after being refused an abortion. The young woman had tried to obtain a termination on the grounds that she was at risk of suicide if the pregnancy continued.



The case was the first proper test of the country’s 2013 Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act, which was supposed to allow for limited abortions in Irish hospitals. The law provides for cases where the woman’s life would be in danger if she goes full term, or in cases where she is suicidal in such instances as rape and incest. Critics say that in this instance the law proved no practical value to the woman concerned.

Tens of thousands of pro-choice campaigners marched through Dublin city centre at the weekend demanding the abolition of the eighth amendment, which was voted into the constitution in 1983 after lobbying by powerful religious-based anti-abortion groups.

Many of the protesters called for full abortion reform to bring Ireland’s law in line with the UK– the main destination for thousands of Irish women who have to travel abroad to terminate pregnancies.

However, the latest polling figures suggest the government would have little chance of success with a referendum that offered full liberalisation of the law.

Last month, Varadkar told parliament that a referendum on the eighth amendment would be held by next summer. He said Ireland was “not ready for abortion on demand”.



He also indicated that within his own Fine Gael party he would allow a free vote, given the range of views held by MPs.

Many of his MPs, particularly from rural, more conservative constituencies, are opposed to widespread abortion reform.

The foreign minister, Simon Coveney, has said he would be surprised if Irish voters agreed to a liberal abortion system as it exists in Britain.