8th Amendment

I have not followed the campaign to repeal the 8th amendment to the Irish constitution, but I find it absurd that people who oppose abortion also oppose contraception. Women abort because they have become pregnant and cannot face bearing the baby, but if contraception were freely available fewer women would find themselves in this situation in the first place. More generally, it seems a mistake to enshrine laws in the constitution of a country, which makes them much harder to change. A prime example is the American 2nd amendment adopted in 1791, at a time when machine guns and assault rifles were inconceivable. Ten more students died in Texas yesterday in the latest high school shooting; these assaults have been taking place almost weekly this year.