The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHERC) has endorsed calls for a referendum on abortion to address the country's "highly restrictive" laws on sexual and reproductive health. The IHERC said it supported recommendations by UN treaty-monitoring committees that the state should revise its legal framework on abortion to ensure that it is in line with international human rights law. The IHERC said current laws have "a disproportionate negative impact on women from lower socio-economic backgrounds."