Reimagining abortion regulation

Abortion is still a crime in most countries. A new legal paradigm would change the lives of millions of women It took 30 years of activism for Ireland to legalise abortion. The 8th Amendment of its Constitution, inserted in the 1980s, stated that a foetus and mother had an equal right to life. It meant abortion could not be provided unless a woman's life was in 'real and immediate' danger, with punishments of up to life imprisonment for unlawful abortion'; Ireland inflicted punishments of up to 14 years in jail. But when citizens voted overwhelmingly to repeal the amendment in 2018 , they empowered the Irish parliament to legislate for legal abortion. Ireland moved from having one of the world's most restrictive abortion laws, to one of the most liberal, with abortion available on request up to 12 weeks of pregnancy and in limited circumstances of risk to the pregnant woman thereafter. We have the largest group of abortion lawyers in the UK, so reproductive health is one of our strengths.