Ireland votes in referendum to eliminate the protection of “women in the house” from the constitution

A referendum is always carried out by the devil, no matter how angelic its purpose may be.

In recent hours, the Government of Ireland has expressed its fear that high abstention will lead to the victory of the “no” in the consultation being held this Friday, International Women's Day, to eliminate two articles with a sexist reek from the constitution. and conservative at all in keeping with the spirit of the current republic.

The apathy of the traditional parties when campaigning, the confusion in the proposed changes and the disinterest of many voters in an issue that they consider to be from another era could end up causing an unpleasant surprise in the result.

“I think that a victory for

No

would mean a setback for the country, honestly.

It would mean sending the message, to hundreds of thousands of adults and children, that they are not part of a family, according to the constitution.

And it would also mean maintaining anachronistic language about the role and duties of women in the home, without recognizing that today there are other members of the family who also take care of those closest to them," said the Irish Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar. —a politician who openly declares himself gay— in Bucharest, where he attended the summit of the European People's Party this Thursday.

The two proposed constitutional reforms affect three sections of a specific article.

The so-called “care

amendment

”, undoubtedly the most offensive for feminist groups, seeks to change the current text to eliminate the reference to the exclusive role of women at home, as the fundamental provider of this care. .

This is the original text:

“Article 41.2.1º

Specifically, the State recognizes that, by focusing her life within the home, women give the State support without which the common good could not be achieved.

Article 41.2.2º

The State will work, in this way, to ensure that mothers are not forced by economic necessity to have to work, to the detriment of their obligations at home.

The proposed new text would read like this:

Article 42B

The State recognizes that the provision of assistance by members of a family to other members of that same family, due to the bond that exists between them, offers Society support without which the common good could not be achieved.

In this way, [the State] will endeavor to support the provision of that assistance.”

The accommodation to the new social reality of Ireland that the constitutional reform proposal seeks also requires the construction of a new legal definition of family that is not limited to that of mere marriage.

To give an idea of ​​the anachronism of the Magna Carta, it is enough to remember that Ireland approved homosexual marriage in 2015.

The so-called “family amendment”

seeks

to expand this concept.

The current text says:

Article 41.1

The State recognizes the Family as the primary and fundamental group unit of Society, and as a moral institution that has inalienable and imprescriptible rights, superior to and prior to any norm of positive law.

The proposed text modifies a few words of the previous one, and thus significantly changes its spirit.

Article 41.1

The State recognizes the Family,

whether based on marriage or another lasting relationship

, as the primary and fundamental group unit of Society, and as a moral institution that has inalienable and imprescriptible rights, superior and prior to any rule of law. positive.

The long hand of the Vatican

The current constitutional text was supervised, and practically written in 1937, by Eamon de Valera, the most relevant nationalist politician in the history of the Republic of Ireland.

It replaced the previous text of 1922, that of the Irish Free State, to get rid of any recognition of the Anglo-Irish treaty that granted independence to part of the island and to include the original aspiration for a single and united Ireland.

John Charles McQuaid, who became archbishop of Dublin three years later, had a lot of influence in the writing of the text.

De Valera allowed constant interference by the Catholic Church in state affairs and social life, and the constitutional draft was sent to the Vatican on two occasions to provide suggestions or corrections.

An immense majority of the Irish Parliament supported the reform proposal that will be voted on this Friday, and it is assumed that an immense majority of society embraces without the slightest problem advances that have already been incorporated into the mentality and customs of citizens for a decade.

But there are always ultra minorities, and even left-wing factions or factions supposedly defending women that have transmitted confusing messages.

Like the fact that the new text will erase into oblivion the sacrifice made for many years by women who, according to them, wanted to be housewives.

Or the idea that family status is granted to temporary relationships of little stability.

None of these objections would have a practical legal consequence, and they are more than debatable in their logic, but they have served to confuse the debate and keep the Government in suspense.

The forecast indicates that it will be early this Saturday afternoon when the result of the conduct will be known, and it will be known whether Ireland takes a step forward in defense of women or suffers an unnecessary legal setback.

Subscribe to continue reading

Read without limits

Keep reading

I am already a subscriber

_