The Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1992 was a failed proposal to amend the

Constitution of Ireland The Constitution of Ireland ( ga, Bunreacht na hÉireann, ) is the fundamental law of Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. The constitution, based on a system of representative democracy, is broadly within the traditi ...

, to exclude the risk of suicide as sufficient reason to legally allow an

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

. It was rejected in a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

on 25 November 1992. The

Thirteenth In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octa ...

and Fourteenth Amendments were approved in referendums on the same day. As these could not be renamed, there has been no enacted Twelfth Amendment of the constitution.

Proposed changes to the text

Proposed insertion of additional text to Article 40.3.3º:

Background

The Eighth Amendment passed in 1983 added the following text to the Constitution as Article 40.3.3º: In March 1992, the Supreme Court held in ''

Attorney General v. X ''Attorney General v X'', 992IESC 1; 9921 IR 1, (more commonly known as the "X Case") was a landmark Irish Supreme Court case which established the right of Irish women to an abortion if a pregnant woman's life was at risk because of pregnanc ...

'' (commonly known as the X Case), that a 14-year-old girl who had become pregnant as a result of rape could obtain an abortion in circumstances where there was a threat to her life from suicide. This amendment proposed that the possibility of suicide was not a sufficient threat to justify an abortion. The proposal was put to a referendum on 25 November 1992 but was rejected. On the same day, the Thirteenth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment were approved by referendum. The former guaranteed freedom of travel abroad to obtain an abortion, and the latter, access to information in Ireland with respect to the same issue. The 1992 general election was held on the same date.

Passage through the Oireachtas

The Twelfth Amendment Bill was proposed in the Dáil by Minister for Justice

Pádraig Flynn Pádraig Flynn (born 9 May 1939) is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as European Commissioner for Social Affairs from 1993 to 1999, Minister for Industry and Commerce and Minister for Justice from 1992 to 1993, Minister for th ...

. The Amendment was approved by the Dáil on 27 October 1992: Fianna Fáil Senator

Des Hanafin Desmond A. Hanafin (9 September 1930 – 22 June 2017) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served for over 30 years as a member of Seanad Éireann. (1969–93 and 1997–2002). He opposed social liberalisation, particularly the legalisation ...

, a member of the

Pro Life Campaign Pro Life Campaign (PLC) is an Irish anti-abortion advocacy organisation. Its primary spokesperson is Cora Sherlock. It is a non-denominational organisation which promotes anti-abortion views, and opposes abortion in all circumstances, including ...

(PLC), did not vote for the government wording. He proposed an amendment at committee stage proposing the wording supported by the PLC: This wording was not voted on, and the bill was approved by the Seanad on 30 October 1992.

Result

The amendment was put to a referendum on 25 November, where it was rejected.

Later developments

No legislation was enacted in the aftermath of this defeated referendum. In 2002, the proposed Twenty-fifth Amendment would have similarly excluded the risk of suicide as grounds for an abortion. On this occasion, the government proposal did have the support of the

. This too was rejected in a referendum, but by a much narrower margin. The

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...

found against the state in ''

A, B and C v Ireland ''A, B and C v Ireland'' is a landmark 2010 case of the European Court of Human Rights on the right to privacy under Article 8. The court rejected the argument that article 8 conferred a right to abortion, but found that Ireland had violated ...

'' (2010). The government responded to this with the enactment of the

Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013 The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013 ( Act No.35 of 2013; previously Bill No.66 of 2013) was an Act of the Oireachtas which, until 2018, defined the circumstances and processes within which abortion in Ireland could be legally perfor ...

, which provided for abortion in the cases where there was a risk to the life of the woman, including from a risk of suicide.

References

External links

Referendum (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 1992
{{DEFAULTSORT:12th Amendment Of The Constitution Bill 1992 1992 in Irish law 1992 in Irish politics 1992 referendums 12 12 12 Irish abortion referendums November 1992 events in Europe Amendment, 12