Protests to call for repeal of 8th amendment
Protests will take place across the country this evening, calling for the repeal of the 8th amendment to the Constitution.
It comes after a woman was denied an abortion under the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act and had to deliver her baby by caesarean section.
The young woman at the centre of the case says she was raped in her home country and only discovered that she was pregnant when she moved to Ireland.
Yesterday it emerged she had attempted to take her own life at 16 weeks pregnant.
Sarah McCarthy, spokesperson with Galway Pro-Choice, says this case highlights major flaws in the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act:
"What this case has revealed is that if you have any other option, any woman is not going to seek help under this legislation," McCarthy said.
"And I'd be very worried for any woman that does seek help under this legislation because it is quite clearly failing women and failing to protect women."
Protests will take place in Galway, Dublin, Belfast, Cork and Limerick, as well as in London and at the Irish embassy in Berlin.
