Abortion Rights Campaign applies to jurisdiction Republic of Ireland
The Abortion Rights Campaign (ARC) is an Irish abortion rights group. The group's goal is the introduction of free and legal abortion in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Prior to May 2018, the group campaigned for the repeal of the Eighth Amendment of the Irish Constitution, which was achieved with the passing of the Thirty-Sixth Amendment 2018. The ARC also campaigns for the Northern Ireland Assembly on behalf of abortion legislation and "to ensure the health of women in pregnancy is protected in line with international human rights standards".History
The Abortion Rights Campaign was founded by 40 people on 10 July 2012. Initially formed as the Irish Choice Network, after another meeting in the Gresham Hotel in Dublin on 8 December 2012 and another meeting on 19 January 2013 the Abortion Rights Campaign was formally launched. It has organized the annual March for Choice in Dublin since 2013.
ARC was one of the main partner organizations in Together for Yes, the civil society group advocating a Yes vote in the 2018 referendum. One of ARC's founding members was a co-director of Together for Yes. ARC's network of regional groups across the island of Ireland formed the basis for many Together for Yes groups in several counties in Ireland.
In January 2016, they received a grant of €23,000 from Open Society Foundations for "educational and stigma-busting projects." SIPO, a national ethics watchdog, sent a warning, reasoning that the money had been raised for a political purpose and therefore non-compliant. The ARC returned the money in November 2016 "in order to comply with all regulatory frameworks". The story was first reported by The Irish Catholic in late March 2017.