Members of Ireland’s main opposition party have voted overwhelming to oppose the repeal of the Eighth Amendment to the country’s constitution, which protects the life of the unborn.
Fianna Fáil members voted at the party’s Ardfheis – or conference – to back a motion calling for the preservation of the amendment. At the same time, they rejected a motion calling for its repeal.
Ireland is due to vote next year in a referendum on repealing the Eighth Amendment.
Although Fianna Fáil’s representatives in the Irish parliament are not bound by the conference’s decision, the move from the country’s second largest party is hugely symbolic.
Read on. It remains to be seen whether this will have any significant impact—but in a strongly Catholic country, it is a welcome sign of hope.
