110,494 ELIGIBLE TO VOTE IN REFERENDUM IN WEXFORD
In the referendum on Friday, May 25, we are being asked to vote on a proposal to change the Constitution by removing Article 40.3.3 otherwise known as the Eight Amendment which makes it unlawful in Ireland for a pregnancy to be terminated other than in circumstances where there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother, including a risk of suicide.
A total of 110,494 people on the electoral register in County Wexford who are citizens of Ireland, over 18 and ordinarily resident in the State are entitled to vote in the referendum, including 2,288 people who registered recently and whose names are on the supplementary register.
The exact wording of the current article which was voted into the Constitution by a 66.90% to 33.10% national majority after a bitterly-contested referendum in 1983 is: ‘ The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable by its laws, to defend and vindicate that right’.
Additional amendments state that this does not limit the freedom to travel between Ireland and another country and doesn’t restrict the freedom to obtain or make available information relating to services available in another State.
There was a 59% electoral turn-out in County Wexford for the 1983 referendum, higher than the national average of 53.67%, with 28,843 votes in favour of the Eight Amendment and 10,752 votes against, representing a percentage of 72.8% to 27.2% in favour.
The new referendum proposal is to delete that Eight Amendment and to insert the following in its place: ’Provision may be made by law for the regulation of termination of pregnancy’ and if this is carried, it will allow the Government to legislate for abortion.
Abortion has been illegal and subject to criminal penalty in Ireland from 1861 but since it was legalised in Britain in 1967, many thousands of Irish women have travelled to England to avail of abortion services there, including an estimated 429 County Wexford women who travelled to the UK for terminations from 2012 to 2016.
If a majority of people vote Yes in Friday’s referendum, it will allow the Oireachtas to pass laws regulating the termination of pregnancy and any new laws need not limit the availability of abortion to circumstances where there is a risk to life of the mother.
If there is a majority ‘No’ vote, the Eight Amendment will remain in place and laws may be passed to provide for abortion only where there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the pregnant woman.
The present le- gal position in Ireland in relation to abortion stems from the Constitution which outlines the basic law of the State along with court decisions interpreting constitutional guidelines and laws passed by the Oireachtas.
In 1992, the Eight Amendment was interpreted by the Supreme Court in a case known as the ‘X Case’, to mean that termination of pregnancy is permitted only when there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother, including a risk of suicide.
The High Court had granted an injunction to the Attorney General stopping a 14-year old girl who had been raped from leaving the country to have an abortion in England. On appeal, the Supreme court found that as the girl had shown a risk of suicide, that abortion was permissible in this instance, in order to safeguard ‘ the equal right to life of the mother’.
Two additions were made to Article 40.3.3 in 1992 as a result of referendums, making clear that the article doesn’t limit a woman’s freedom to travel out of the country for an abortion or the right to obtain or make available information about services that are lawfully available in other countries.
In 2013, the Oireachtas passed the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act, regulating the termination of pregnancy and the present legal position is that it is lawful for a pregnancy to be medically terminated in Ireland only where it poses a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother, including a risk of suicide. Otherwise it is a criminal offence to intentionally destory unborn human life.
There are 191 polling stations in County Wexford which will open from 7 am to 10 pm on Friday and when voters arrive they will be given a ballot paper on which they will be required to mark an ‘X’ in the ‘Yes’ box or ‘No’ box depending on how they wish to vote.
Voters should have received a polling card in the post but if you are on the electoral register and don’t receive a card, you are still entitled to vote. However, you should bring along some form of personal identification with a photograph or a bank, savings or credit union book containing your address in the constituency.
The count centre will be in St. Joseph’s Community Centre in Bishopswater on Saturday, May 26, where the proceedings will be overseen by Wexford County Registrar Marie Garahy who has organised an equivalent number of count staff as would be involved in a General Election count.
All of the referendum count results from around the country will be forwarded to the Referendum Returning Officer, based in Dublin. The Wexford result will be announced locally when authorisation is given to do so.
Anyone who would usually vote in the CBS primary school in Wexford, is reminded that the polling station has been moved to nearby Kennedy Park school due to ongoing construction work.