The Church of Ireland has questioned whether a referendum is an appropriate vehicle to deal with morally complex issues such as abortion.
In a statement, it has repeated its view “that
abortion should be confined to situations of strict and undeniable
medical necessity”.
The church’s standing committee recalled how, since
the 1983 abortion referendum, it has publicly questioned “the wisdom of
addressing such complex moral problems by means of amendments to the
Constitution”.
It said “unfolding events and a range of tragic human
cases over the past three decades have demonstrated the deficiencies of
the constitutional approach”.
“However, we would wish to emphasise that
to review or question the value of the Eighth Amendment at this time is
not by implication to call for easy access to abortion,” it said.
“Rather, it is to suggest that those complex and
hopefully rare situations in which medical necessity might require
termination of pregnancy would be more suitably addressed through
nuanced legislation.”
‘Good wishes’
The statement was prepared for submission on behalf
of the Church of Ireland to the Citizens’ Assembly and its
considerations of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution.
The Church of Ireland, it said, “offers its good
wishes and prayers to the assembly in its weighty duty of striving to
find a way forward in this sensitive matter, so that the rights of both
mothers and the unborn may be duly balanced and careful reflection may
take place regarding the place of the Constitution in addressing complex
moral and social matters”.