Amnesty International says the human rights of Irish women are being 'violated' by abortion laws which are taking a serious toll on their mental and physical health.
The international NGO has launched a major report this morning, calling for the Eighth Amendment to be amended or repealed.
It says Irish abortion legislation is among the most restrictive in the world, and forces more than 4,000 women and girls abroad every year.
The Amnesty reported, entitled 'She Is Not A Criminal', includes the case studies of several women who have travelled to the UK for terminations.
These include many who say they suffered miscarriages and were forced to carry dead or unviable foetuses for weeks in the hope of getting treatment at home.
While figures released today show that 3,735 women and girls travelled from Ireland to the UK for abortion services in 2014.
The Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) says this highlights a "continued failure" by the State to uphold women's right to health.
IFPA chief executive Niall Behan said: "Instead of providing necessary health services, the State turned its back on these women by obliging them to rely on the health care system of the UK."
"Since 1980, almost 162,000 women and girls have had to make this journey to the UK, and assume all the financial, practical and emotional burdens involved in travelling abroad for abortion services," he added.
The secretary-general of Amnesty International, Salil Shetty, says the situation is completely unacceptable.
However the Pro-Life Campaign is accusing Amnesty International of being a "de facto abortion lobbying group."
The group claims the current situation denies the human rights of women in cases of rape or fatal foetal abnormality.
But speaking on The Last Word, Cora Sherlock of the Pro-Life Campaign said she's shocked by the campaign:
