# Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland

The Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1992 (previously bill no. 26 of 1992) is an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland which specified that the protection of the right to life of the unborn did not limit the right to distribute information about services in foreign countries. It was one of three referendums on abortion held on 25 November 1992. It was approved and signed into law on 23 December of the same year.
On 25 May 2018, a referendum was passed to replace the provision on the right to life of the unborn with a clause allowing legislation on the termination of pregnancy.

## Background

In 1983, the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution was approved in a referendum, inserting Article 40.3.3°:
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children obtained two injunctions affecting the availability of information on abortion services outside of the state. In Attorney General (Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (Ireland) Ltd.) v Open Door Counselling Ltd. and Dublin Wellwoman Centre Ltd. (1988), an injunction was granted restraining two counseling agencies from assisting women to travel abroad to obtain abortions or informing them of the methods of communications with such clinics, and in Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (Ireland) Ltd. v Grogan (1989), an injunction was granted restraining three students' unions from distributing information on abortion available outside the state. The Fourteenth Amendment allowed for information on abortion under terms regulated by law.
On the same day, two referendums were held in response to aspects of the Supreme Court decision in the X Case decided in March 1992: the Twelfth Amendment which would have excluded the risk of suicide as grounds for an abortion, which was defeated, and the Thirteenth Amendment, to permit travel outside of the state to obtain an abortion, which was approved. These three referendums were held on the same day as the 1992 general election.

## Changes to the text

Insertion of a new paragraph in Article 40.3.3°:
The subsection relating to abortion had originally been added with the Eighth Amendment in 1983. With the approval of the Thirteenth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment, the full text of Article 40.3.3° was:
   This subsection shall not limit freedom to travel between the State and another state.

## Oireachtas debates

A previous amendment to the constitution had been proposed as a private member's bill by Labour Party TD Brendan Howlin on 12 May 1992. This proposed to insert the following subsection after Article 40.3.3°:
       i.to travel to and from the State for the purpose of receiving services lawfully available in other jurisdictions, or
       ii. to obtain, within the State, information and counselling relating to such services.
This was defeated at Second Stage the following day by 62 votes to 67.
The Fourteenth Amendment was proposed in the Dáil by Minister for Justice Pádraig Flynn on 21 October 1992. It was passed in the Dáil on 22 October and in the Seanad on 30 October. It proceeded to a referendum on 25 November.

## Result

Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland referendum :
| Choice | Votes | % |
| Yes | 992,833 | 59.88 |
| No | 665,106 | 40.12 |
| Valid votes | 1,657,939 | 95.70 |
| Invalid or blank votes | 74,494 | 4.30 |
| Total votes | 1,732,433 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | 2,542,841 | 68.13 |
Results by constituency :
| Constituency | Electorate | Turnout (%) | Votes | Votes | Proportion of votes | Proportion of votes |
| Constituency | Electorate | Turnout (%) | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Carlow–Kilkenny | 81,192 | 69.2% | 31,463 | 21,684 | 59.2% | 40.8% |
| Cavan–Monaghan | 79,004 | 70.2% | 26,934 | 24,919 | 51.9% | 48.1% |
| Clare | 65,579 | 67.9% | 25,092 | 16,964 | 59.7% | 40.3% |
| Cork East | 58,160 | 71.8% | 20,924 | 19,102 | 52.3% | 47.7% |
| Cork North-Central | 68,209 | 66.6% | 24,266 | 19,689 | 55.2% | 44.8% |
| Cork North-West | 44,578 | 75.4% | 14,674 | 16,910 | 46.5% | 53.5% |
| Cork South-Central | 75,747 | 71.1% | 32,218 | 20,050 | 61.6% | 38.4% |
| Cork South-West | 44,627 | 73.8% | 15,562 | 15,197 | 50.6% | 49.4% |
| Donegal North-East | 46,934 | 67.2% | 12,395 | 17,538 | 41.4% | 58.6% |
| Donegal South-West | 48,494 | 62.1% | 11,797 | 16,446 | 41.8% | 58.2% |
| Dublin Central | 59,941 | 61.3% | 20,812 | 14,784 | 58.5% | 41.5% |
| Dublin North | 62,917 | 69.0% | 31,534 | 10,983 | 74.2% | 25.8% |
| Dublin North-Central | 64,349 | 71.6% | 29,253 | 15,815 | 64.9% | 35.1% |
| Dublin North-East | 57,888 | 69.6% | 28,623 | 11,036 | 72.2% | 27.8% |
| Dublin North-West | 57,951 | 65.3% | 24,485 | 12,474 | 66.3% | 33.7% |
| Dublin South | 84,767 | 70.4% | 43,613 | 15,018 | 74.4% | 25.6% |
| Dublin South-Central | 63,316 | 64.1% | 25,825 | 13,949 | 64.9% | 35.1% |
| Dublin South-East | 68,366 | 58.8% | 26,557 | 12,573 | 67.9% | 32.1% |
| Dublin South-West | 69,654 | 61.9% | 31,009 | 11,173 | 73.5% | 26.5% |
| Dublin West | 57,755 | 64.9% | 26,235 | 10,478 | 71.5% | 28.5% |
| Dún Laoghaire | 85,924 | 68.8% | 44,009 | 14,001 | 75.9% | 24.1% |
| Galway East | 42,604 | 66.5% | 14,885 | 12,487 | 54.4% | 45.6% |
| Galway West | 78,539 | 63.8% | 28,761 | 18,515 | 60.8% | 39.2% |
| Kerry North | 48,606 | 69.6% | 15,875 | 15,683 | 50.3% | 49.7% |
| Kerry South | 44,034 | 70.1% | 15,389 | 13,058 | 54.1% | 45.9% |
| Kildare | 77,798 | 65.3% | 33,425 | 15,935 | 67.7% | 32.3% |
| Laois–Offaly | 77,226 | 70.2% | 27,552 | 23,624 | 53.8% | 46.2% |
| Limerick East | 71,004 | 68.6% | 27,100 | 19,823 | 57.7% | 42.3% |
| Limerick West | 44,768 | 71.3% | 14,629 | 15,165 | 49.1% | 50.9% |
| Longford–Roscommon | 60,452 | 75.1% | 22,402 | 19,686 | 53.2% | 46.8% |
| Louth | 65,666 | 67.3% | 24,356 | 18,260 | 57.2% | 42.8% |
| Mayo East | 43,392 | 68.0% | 14,434 | 12,857 | 52.9% | 47.1% |
| Mayo West | 43,407 | 68.4% | 15,838 | 11,544 | 57.8% | 42.2% |
| Meath | 77,900 | 66.0% | 30,493 | 18,978 | 61.6% | 38.4% |
| Sligo–Leitrim | 60,675 | 70.4% | 21,659 | 18,164 | 54.4% | 45.6% |
| Tipperary North | 42,633 | 75.1% | 15,403 | 14,614 | 51.3% | 48.7% |
| Tipperary South | 56,705 | 70.3% | 20,144 | 17,878 | 53.0% | 47.0% |
| Waterford | 63,692 | 68.1% | 25,661 | 15,971 | 61.6% | 38.4% |
| Westmeath | 46,128 | 67.0% | 15,874 | 13,447 | 54.1% | 45.9% |
| Wexford | 75,553 | 69.6% | 28,384 | 21,530 | 56.9% | 43.1% |
| Wicklow | 76,707 | 67.8% | 33,289 | 17,104 | 66.1% | 33.9% |
| Total | 2,542,841 | 68.1% | 992,833 | 665,106 | 59.9% | 40.1% |

## Aftermath

The legislation anticipated by the Fourteenth Amendment was provided for in the Regulation of Information (Services Outside the State For Termination of Pregnancies) Act 1995. This bill was referred by the President to the Supreme Court prior to its enactment, which upheld it as constitutional, having assigned counsel to argue that it provided inadequate protection to the life of the unborn, and counsel to argue that it provided inadequate protection to the rights of a woman. It was found to be constitutional and signed into law on 12 May 1995.

## Repeal

On 25 May 2018, the Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution was passed by referendum. It was enacted on 18 September 2018, replacing the previous text of Article 40.3.3° with: