Mr. Tom O'Malley:

I am repeating myself. If this section of the Constitution was redrafted and a balancing exercise was undertaken, which is the situation under the eighth amendment and was reflected in the X case, the right to life of the unborn child would have to be taken into consideration. In a sense, I am trying to predict what might happen in the event of the matter going before a court on constitutional grounds. I imagine the outcome to be that some kind of verification should be required in order to vindicate the rights to life of the unborn. This would not necessarily mean a criminal trial or formal adjudication, but some kind of verification process would probably be called for. Perhaps it would be something like what obtains in some European countries, where the test is of whether there is significant evidence or a significant indication that a rape or some other offence has taken place. That might be deemed sufficient, especially if it is written into legislation, which would attract the presumption of constitutionality in any event.