Abortion ban repeal

Irish vote for law liberalisation in groundbreaking referendum

IRELAND overturned its ban on abortion yesterday with a landslide vote that is set to make its laws even more liberal than those in England, Scotland and Wales.

In a landmark referendum, 66.4 per cent voted in favour of overhauling the country’s restrictive laws in what has been seen as a major blow to the authority of the once-dominant Catholic Church.

Thousands of Irish nationals flew in from around the world to participate, with campaigners including Call the Midwife’s Stephen McGann, comedian Dara O Briain and writer Marian Keyes tweeting their delight at the result.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, a leading advocate for the change, said: “What we have seen today is a culmination of a quiet revolution that’s been taking place in Ireland.” Campaigners who had gathered outside Dublin Castle to hear the result announced hugged and wept as the final counts were revealed.

The size of the vote to overturn the abortion ban and its support among older voters confounded expectations of a close finish, and was hailed as a seismic change in a country that legalised same-sex marriage just three years ago. It will now turn the spotlight across the border to Northern Ireland’s restrictive laws.

However, pro-life activists have vowed to fight to limit the reforms.

The vote strikes down the eighth amendment of the Irish constitution, which put the life of a mother and her baby on equal footing.

Doctors could only carry out terminations when they felt the mother’s life was at risk.

The Irish Government is expected to draw up legislation to allow abortion on demand during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy – and up to 24 weeks in cases posing a severe risk to the mother’s health. The changes mean Ireland’s laws are likely to be more liberal than those in the UK.