Perth Indymedia

"The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right." That’s the wording of the eighth amendment to the Irish constitution, enshrined in law after a referendum in 1983. There’s now another referendum scheduled for May 25th to repeal that amendment. Shauna Stanley is a campaigner with the Melbourne Irish Abortion Rights campaign. She began by explaining what the amendment has meant for Irish women’s ability to choose to have an abortion.