A Tragic Morning in Ireland (Abortion is legal)

[Antonio the Sixth]

This is one of the worst abortion laws in the world, with no protections for religious hospitals and severely limited conscience protections for doctors, as well as forcing taxpayers to pay for what many of them believe to be a genocide.

None of these provisions are anything close to unique in the world. It's only America and (I think?) Canada where FREE ABORTION basically acts as a regressive tax on poor women, mostly due to the ass-backwards way in which abortion was legalized in these countries.

More seriously, does someone have an objective rundown of the law's content? As someone who's happy for the news but hopes the government didn't go completely overboard with this, I'd appreciate it.

[Antonio the Sixth]

This is one of the worst abortion laws in the world, with no protections for religious hospitals and severely limited conscience protections for doctors, as well as forcing taxpayers to pay for what many of them believe to be a genocide.

None of these provisions are anything close to unique in the world. It's only America and (I think?) Canada where FREE ABORTION basically acts as a regressive tax on poor women, mostly due to the ass-backwards way in which abortion was legalized in these countries.

More seriously, does someone have an objective rundown of the law's content? As someone who's happy for the news but hopes the government didn't go completely overboard with this, I'd appreciate it.

I gave the bill a quick skim. Major provisions include:

1) Elective abortions are legal up to 12 weeks, with a three day waiting period
2) Exceptions up to birth for risks to the life and health of the mother, or if the baby is not expected to live outside the womb for 28 days.
3) Two physicians have to certify the abortions performed under #2, except for lifesaving care and the like.
4) The state will pay for abortions.
5) There is a (pretty weak) concientious objector clause for doctors and nurses who don't want to participate in abortions.
6) Women who obtain late term abortions are exempt from prosecution.
7) Abortionists who violate the law can be sentenced to prison for up to fourteen years

This is fairly restrained compared to the ridiculous Canadian model, particularly when it comes to 'extracurricular activities' like restrictions on pro-life protests or the Liberal government's outrageous attempt to require pro-life groups to sign a pro-abortion attestation. My understanding is that the law is also somewhat more conservative than most of Western Europe (but don't quote me on that).

So while today is a tragic day for Ireland, Canada remains the undisputed champion for awful abortion jurisprudence in the West.

This seems to be somewhere in between France (which has fewer controls and some restrictions on attempts to prevent abortions) and Italy (which has stronger conscientious objection provisions) so more or less in the middle of West European legislation. The 12 weeks limit, in particular, seems to be the clear consensus the continent is coming to. So Ireland, like most European countries, will probably be spared the fanatical culture wars that rage on in North America. Wonderful news all around.