This is a complete misreading of the amendment. The purpose of the amendment is to provide for when both parents are unwilling or unable to take care of a child. Your scenario is a simple family law case of which there are thousands every year - the state has no right and will have no right to grant adoption orders to one side.A very simple scenario is this - parents of a child split up, mother meets new man, lobbies local TD and does the usual snow job on the HSE to ensure the father is stitched up and a court will remove parental rights of the father and give them to the mother's new man.
The referendum has very little to do with intra-family law. It is about protecting the welfare of vulnerable children, and the adoption amendment would seek to make it possible for children to remain in family homes instead of being lost in a fostering/care system where dozens of children die every year. The original text of the constitution doesn't explicitly prevent legislation like this being drawn up, but the new text should make it a lot less messier.
The amendment is required to comply with the UNCRC, which Ireland has signed up for. You can argue the content but not the fact Ireland is required to amend the constitution.Maybe others will think I'm nuts, but I don't see the need for the referendum other than to deflect from the most recent payments to unsecured bondholders or to try drain the reserves of the pro-lifers before an abortion referendum.
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