Greg Daly
The Pro Life Campaign (PLC) has dismissed as manipulative the last poll on abortion conducted for The Irish Times.
The poll question asked “Are you in favour of repealing the Eighth Amendment so that terminations in, for example, the case of rape or fatal foetal abnormality might be made legal, or are you in favour of keeping the amendment?”
Two-thirds of polled respondents said they believed the Eighth (Life Equality) Amendment to the Constitution should be repealed, while a fifth said the amendment should be retained.
Describing the poll question as “disgracefully loaded”, PLC spokesperson Cora Sherlock said, “The question presents the Eighth Amendment in an entirely slanted way and affords respondents no opportunity to also consider all that is positive about the Amendment.”
Rather than being a serious attempt at discerning public opinion, the question’s wording “reflects The Irish Times mindset on the issue”, she said.
“For example,” she continued, “there are thousands of people alive today as a direct result of the Eighth Amendment but The Irish Times has no interest or curiosity in exploring this reality.”
Her comments came ahead of the admission by Children and Youth Affairs Minister Katherine Zappone, who favours the repeal of the Eighth Amendment, that she is “not convinced” a majority of Irish people would currently support the amendment’s repeal.