Brian Nugent

The Irish 2018 Abortion Referendum: Why the good guys lost! Brian Nugent

The 8th amendment of the Irish Constitution: 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.? This famous, much loved, clause in the Irish constitution was repealed on the 25th of May 2018, allowing the passage of one of the most liberal abortion laws in Europe in a traditionally pro-life country. This book seeks to answer the conundrum of why this happened, in particular why there was such a large Yes vote overturning decades of pro-life activism in the country. It centres on the questions of media bias, feminism, anticlericalism, and the subtle but serious political effects of the rise of atheism in modern Ireland.