Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013

The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013 (Irish: An tAcht um Chosaint na Beatha le linn Toirchis 2013;Act No.35 of 2013; previously Bill No.66 of 2013) is an Act of the Oireachtas which defines the circumstances and processes within which abortion in Ireland can be legally performed. The Act gives effect in statutory law to the terms of the Constitution as interpreted by the Supreme Court in the 1992 judgment Attorney General v. X (the "X case"). That judgment allowed for abortion where pregnancy endangers a woman's life, including through a risk of suicide. The provisions relating to suicide have been the most contentious part of the bill. Having passed both Houses of the Oireachtas in July 2013, it was signed into law on 30 July by Michael D. Higgins, the President of Ireland, and commenced on 1 January 2014.

Under section 58 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861, unlawfully attempting to procure a miscarriage was a crime punishable by up to life imprisonment.A 1983 amendment to the 1937 Constitution guarantees to vindicate the "right to life of the unborn" with due regard for "the equal right to life of the mother". Proponents of the amendment believed that it would guarantee abortion could never be allowed in any circumstances. However, in 1992 the Supreme Court ruled in Attorney General v. X that abortion was permitted where pregnancy presented "a real and substantial risk to the life, as distinct from the health, of the mother", including where the risk was through suicide. There were two attempts to amend the Constitution to explicitly rule out suicide as grounds for abortion. These were rejected at referendums in 1992 and in 2002; some no-voters felt the restriction was too strong and others that it was not strong enough. No legislation was passed to amend the 1861 act in the light of the 1992 judgment.

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