Ireland's First Openly Gay P.M. Says Unborn Child Doesn't Have Absolute Right to Life, Wants Abortion Options Expanded
Newly elected Prime Minister, or Taoiseach, of Ireland Leo Varadkar has confirmed that the nation will hold a referendum next year to decide on whether or not to amend or remove current restrictions on abortion.
Announcing his Cabinet to the Dáil, Ireland's first openly gay prime minister said the ministry of health would be responsible for bringing forward legislation to allow for the referendum on the Eight Amendment to the Constitution, which gives an equal right to life to the mother and the unborn child, The Irish Times reported.
Abortion is one of the major issues facing Varadkar amid the demands of pro-choice reformers for a referendum on the issue, according to The Guardian.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The pro-choice advocates say the country cannot liberalize its strict anti-abortion law until the Eighth Amendment is abolished.
Varadkar, the youngest prime minister in Irish history at 38, is said to be liberal on social issues such as gender and abortion. At the same time, he has been criticized for his right-leaning economic views, CBN News reported.
Last year, when he was the minister for health, Varadkar told The Irish Times that he wants to expand abortion options, and that he disagrees with Ireland's current constitutional position that equates the unborn child's life to that of the mother's life.
"What we have at the moment...is this kind of absolute right to life where the unborn's life is equal to that of a pregnant mother, I don't agree with that. I think that is too restrictive," he said.
Varadkar, who is a medical doctor and the son of an Indian father and Irish mother, said abortion should be allowed if there is significant risk to a woman's long-term physical health – not just in cases of fatal fetal abnormality.
"The current line really is that a termination is possible if there's a risk to the life of the mother, but what about the risk to [her] long-term health?" he said.
"There are pregnancies that involve, we'll say, a woman who has very severe heart disease, high blood pressure. I think there should be a mechanism where decisions like that are a matter for the woman and her doctor, not the law," he explained.
Varadkar agrees that the unborn have a right to life, but that the Eighth Amendment is just too restrictive.
He said in his opinion abortion should be permitted in cases where the fetus had no prospect of surviving, "fatal fetal abnormalities . . . and also where there's a significant risk to the health of the mother."
He cautioned though that there could be no "perfect law" that would eliminate the possibility of tragedies, ethical dilemmas and potential court cases.
Varadkar came out as gay in 2015. He was confirmed as Taoiseach in Dáil ceremony in Dublin earlier this month.
