Abstract
In this paper, the writing and re-writing of the Irish Constitution will be examined in relation to the Lacanian concept of the sexual non-relation, with particular focus on the way women have been written into the Constitution. A recent change in public opinion regarding the criminality of abortion resulted in a campaign to remove the Eighth Amendment from the Constitution. This was the constitutional provision of the equal right to life of the mother and the unborn. An examination of the consequences of this provision will contextualise the shift in public opinion towards the relaxation of Ireland’s restrictive abortion laws.