Today the man at the centre of the ongoing IVF case in the High Court was told that he had the right to stop his estranged wife from using their embryo’s to get pregnant; the case will now move onto the constitutional side in which the woman claims that her embryo’s have a right to life under a 1983 amendement.
The reality is that amendment offers the state’s protection over the unborn; the definition of the unborn is not defined. As I stated before the failure of the Government to gain public approval for its proposed constitutional amendment in the 2002 referendum on abortion has meant that this gap has been left wide open; stem cell research is another aspect of modern medicine that will need clarification if it is to take place on these shores.
So the Government may indeed have to redefine the term unborn in the constitution through a referendum (and let’s not forget that pro-choice groups recently renewed their calls for another abortion referendum too).
A review body set up to look into the issue of statutory rape legislation is due to give its findings to the Dáil when it reconveens in September, one suggestion may be a referendum on that issue too.
So we may be facing two constitutional referenda on two seperate issues in 2007, and the chances are the Government will not be able to hold off on them until the General Election; especially not if an amendment on the aspect of statutory rape is put forward.