IN the Republic of Ireland the ground is beginning to move once more and another pillar of an ancient regime is starting to wobble. In May voters there will vote on changing the eighth amendment of the Irish constitution which guarantees protection for the unborn child. If a majority votes Yes it will pave the way for the Irish Government to introduce legislation permitting abortions ‘on request’ up until 12 weeks’ gestation. Early appeals by the Taoiseach for the campaign on either side to be conducted with respect and dignity are unlikely to be heeded.

On a visit there last month it was clear to me that the debate will carry much more emotional intensity than in the 2015 referendum to legalise same-sex marriage. This is a country where the sacred and the profane make covert mutual deals on a nightly basis.

The abortion debate, though, will not be accommodated so easily in such perfunctory arrangements. It will be a national self-examination of how human life will henceforth come to be defined in a country that is still in the early stages of de-coupling the Catholic Church from the state. Ireland will ask itself questions it has never previously dared to: is there a point at which an unborn child’s right to exist must always be sacrosanct, or should it be weighed against the circumstances of its conception; the mental and physical health of its mother and perhaps, too, the economic and social challenges she might be encountering?

Deep within this debate lies another just as profound and potentially more troubling. Official figures last year from the UK’s Department of Health revealed that 83 women travelled from Ireland to England for an abortion on the grounds that their unborn baby would have Down’s syndrome. This was despite Irish Health Minister Simon Harris saying it was “offensive to suggest women in Ireland are seeking abortions on the grounds their babies will be born with disabilities like Down’s syndrome”.

The parents, friends and families of children and adults born with Down’s might just have felt a chill on seeing these numbers. It hints at something approaching social cleansing; of using abortion as a convenient way of removing something deemed not to be quite perfect in a society where instant gratification and the quick and easy fix is an eternal quest.

I must declare an interest in this issue. My niece Ciara has Down’s syndrome and at her birth was hours from death owing to an accompanying cocktail of other conditions. Her parents were advised that a “termination” would be the best all-round solution in the circumstances.

Since then the love and devotion of her parents and her wider family have enabled Ciara to lead a full life in which she has exhibited many of the gifts possessed by “normal” children. Like many other families who have been affected by the condition, we have all been rewarded by a joyful, loving and fully-rounded teenager who, while fully aware of the challenges she must always face, has met them head on.

This is not to pass judgment on those families who have opted not to choose life in the face of these challenges; merely to state my own family’s experience.

I fully acknowledge that a complex and toxic assortment of wider issues can influence the choices of other families. Nevertheless recent attitudes and outcomes are troubling about our civilised society’s view of those among us deemed to be unworthy of our full support and protection, especially if this is measured in hard currency.

Those of us on the Left are always deeply troubled by the human consequences of a pure market economy. How many of us, though, are as troubled by this social capitalism where human worth is measured against what is casually regarded the acceptable norm? Who gets to decide this and on what basis?

In the US at the end of 2017 the state of Ohio moved to prohibit doctors from performing abortions in cases where tests reveal that the unborn child has or is likely to have Down’s syndrome.

The law now forbids abortions after prenatal tests reveal Down’s in a foetus or if there is “any other reason to believe” the foetus has this genetic condition. This drew a predictable response from some groups who saw it as an act of right-wing, republican folly aimed at undermining women’s rights. In this atmosphere it could never be considered merely as an act designed to uphold the innate dignity and humanity of a vulnerable group in our society.

The Ohio legislation comes as Iceland looks like becoming the first country where Down’s people will have been socially eradicated from society. Pre-natal tests were introduced there in the early 2000s; the vast majority who received a positive test terminated their pregnancy.

Last year only two children with Down’s were born in Iceland. In Denmark last year only four unborn children with Down’s made it to birth.

The implications of this are sinister indeed. Having effectively purified the future populations of these countries of the “scourge” of Down’s, at what point will questions be asked about the cost of to the state of caring for and supporting those existing children and adults with it? Spina Bifida anyone? And what about all those of our brother and sister human beings with other mental and physical conditions when we start talking about value for money?

In England and Wales last year according to UK Government figures abortions performed under the ground E of the Abortion Act Down Syndrome was the most commonly reported chromosomal abnormality at 22 per cent. which equates to 706 abortions. In Scotland the figure is inexact.

The same report states that 75 were for chromosomal abnormalities such as Down’s. In Scotland of course it’s virtually impossible even merely to express concern about this without being harangued and dismissed as some kind of proto-Trump, hard-right republican evangelical. Even when you attempt to do so purely from a non-religious perspective you risk condemnation as an “anti-feminist”. On the liberal left though, it is entirely appropriate to be concerned when some of our most vulnerable human beings are being targeted. These voices need to be heard without intimidation.