The Pro-Life Amendment Campaign (PLAC) was an

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...

advocacy organisation established in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in 1981. It campaigned in favour of the

Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1983 was an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland which inserted a subsection recognising "the equal right to life of the pregnant woman and the unborn". Abortion had been subject to criminal pe ...

, which was approved by referendum on 7 September 1983 and signed into law on the 7 October of the same year.

Membership

The organisation set up several other organisations: * Congress of Catholic Secondary School Parents' Associations * Irish Catholic Doctors' Guild * Guild of Catholic Nurses * Guild of Catholic Pharmacists * Catholic Young Men's Society * St Thomas More Society * Irish Pro-Life Movement * National Association of the Ovulation Method * Council of Social Concern (COSC) * Irish Responsible Society * Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) * St Joseph's Young Priests Society * Christian Brothers Schools Parents' Federation They attended a meeting chaired by the leader of the Knights of Saint Columbanus on 21 January 1981. The meeting was called by John O'Reilly, a former Knight of Columbanus who had campaigned against contraception and the Irish Family Planning Association in the 1970s. It was officially launched at a press conference chaired by Dr Julia Vaughan (a gynaecologist and former nun) on 27 April 1981. Elected officers of the organisation were: Julia Vaughan (Irish Catholic Doctors' Guild, chairman), Michael Shortall (Catholic Young Men's Society, secretary), Dennis Barror (Irish Responsible Society, treasurer).

Campaign

Shortly after its launch, PLAC delegations met separately with

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

's Charlie Haughey,

Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...

's Garret FitzGerald and the Labour Party's

Frank Cluskey Frank Cluskey (8 April 1930 – 7 May 1989) was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism from 1982 to 1983, Leader of the Labour Party from 1977 to 1981 and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minist ...

. After an acrimonious referendum campaign, the amendment was passed by 67% voting in favour to 33% voting against.

Aftermath

Key members of the campaign went on to establish the

Pro Life Campaign Pro Life Campaign (PLC) is an Irish Opposition to the legalization of abortion, anti-abortion advocacy group, advocacy organisation. Its primary spokesperson is Cora Sherlock. It is a non-denominational organisation which promotes anti-abortion ...

in 1992.

References

{{Abortion in the Republic of Ireland Anti-abortion organisations in the Republic of Ireland 1981 establishments in Ireland Organizations established in 1981

Membership

Campaign

Aftermath

See also

References