Decision day as country votes on abortion
‘Yes vote will help to lift stigma’
THE nation finally goes to the polls today to decide whether or not to relax Ireland’s laws in relation to abortion, after weeks of highly charged and often bitter campaigning on both sides of the debate
The issue has historically been deeply divisive here – one that in many other countries has been addressed solely by legislatures or supreme courts.
And the divisions have scarcely lessened over the decades since the right to life of the unborn was given equal status to the mother after a referendum in 1983, by the insertion of in Article 40.3.3 – the Eight Amendment – into the Constitution.
The question on the ballot paper today will ask voters if they want to repeal this amendment, which has restricted virtually all abortion in Ireland – while it has operated in the neighbouring jurisdiction for more than half a century.
An above-average turnout is expected, with 6,500 polling stations open from 7am until 10pm.
The weather is due to be calm and favourable towards a higherthan-average poll.
The islands voted yesterday, but the traditional evening rush will get under way from 6pm tonight – and an RTÉ exit poll will give the first indication of how the country has voted at about 11.30pm.
The Late Late Show on RTÉ will conclude with a live late insert in which Prime Time presenter David McCullagh will disclose the initial results of sampling from all 40 constituencies.
Exit polls have been very accurate in both general and presidential elections, with an even greater hit rate in referendums – successfully predicting the 2015 Marriage Equality vote.
The boxes with the real ballots are opened from 9am tomorrow, and a reliable determination will be obvious within hours.
A formal declaration of the final result is expected at Dublin Castle after 6pm.
With turnout likely to be a decisive factor, both sides will be focusing their efforts today on getting out to vote, with the Yes camp targeting young people and the No argument looking to older voters.
Both sides wrapped up their high-energy campaigns yesterday with final arguments and appeals, concluding an intense three-week period in which most homes will have been canvassed by the competing views.
The ‘ground war’ has been augmented by poster and newspaper advertising spending, while a parallel struggle for hearts and minds has played out online.
Today, however, it will be down to the individual conscience and the choice of 3.34million registered voters.
Postal votes are already in, while a record 118,389 people will be on the supplementary register.
Some of these will only receive their voting cards in the post today, while others will have no card at all – but should be reassured that it is not strictly necessary in order to vote.
Individuals should, however, bring a passport, driving licence or other form of photo ID to their polling stations, together with proof of address if they are unsure whether or not they are on the register.
President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina will vote at a small school in the Phoenix Park this morning, while Taoiseach Leo Varadkar casts his ballot at Scoil Thomáis in Castleknock, at the heart of his Dublin West constituency.
Speaking in Dublin, the Taoiseach said: ‘Ireland on Sunday, if there’s a Yes vote, will still be the same country as it is today, but it will be a country that is just a little bit more compassionate – one that recognises the realities and the problems that women face and the grey areas we need to legislate for.
‘We are taking absolutely nothing for granted, we know at this stage in the Seanad referendum we were well ahead in the polls and a Yes vote was predicted, but that didn’t happen on the day.
‘And of course, we know that from referendums of the past, like divorce, which went down by fewer than 10,000 votes, or one in every ballot box.’ Mr Varadkar also repeated his view that this is a ‘once-in-a-generation decision for the Irish people’.
And speaking yesterday in the Dáil, Tánaiste Simon Coveney said: ‘If the people decide to vote No tomorrow, what they are essentially saying is that we can change nothing, that Ireland is frozen in time on this issue.’
Mr Varadkar said a No vote would send out ‘the wrong message, not just to women, but about our society’. ‘There has been, in Ireland, a legacy of shame in many ways, the fact that 170,000 women had to travel, sometimes in secret, to other jurisdictions to end their pregnancies,’ he declared.
‘And I hope a Yes vote will help to lift that stigma, help to take away that legacy of shame that exists in our society.’
Campaigners for the No side insisted, however, that the Eighth Amendment – which upholds the equal right to life of the unborn, ‘as far as is practicable’ – is the very last bulwark against a system that would inevitably become abortion on demand.
Barrister Benedict Ó Floinn BL sought to highlight ‘the far-reaching and extreme’ abortion legislation planned by the Government if it wins the referendum.
‘The Government has plans to introduce the most far-reaching abortion laws any Irish Government has ever proposed in the history of the State,’ he said.
This involves ‘abortion on
demand up to 12 weeks, abortion on vague mental health grounds which are frequently abused in other countries up to 24 weeks, and potentially abortion up to birth in other ill-defined circumstances’, he said.
The Taoiseach said that, in the event of a Yes vote, the Government anticipates having the relevant legislation published before the Oireachtas summer recess, and passed through the Dáil and Seanad and enacted by the end of the year. If the Eighth Amendment is repealed, it will allow the Government to legislate on terminations. It has already published draft legislation that it wants to introduce to the Dáil if the proposal is accepted.
Under the Bill, women will be allowed to have an abortion – but only if a doctor certifies the embryo is not more than 12 weeks old. A 72-hour ‘pause period’ must also elapse between the doctor’s certification and the abortion, to allow the woman time to consider her options.
Beyond 12 weeks, terminations will only be lawful in exceptional circumstances, including where there is a risk of serious harm to the health or life of the woman, in emergency situations, and in cases of fatal foetal abnormality.
Meanwhile, the Union of Students in Ireland has said that it is expecting the turnout at the polling booths among young people today to be the largest for any referendum in history of the State – including 2015’s vote on gay marriage.
The USI represents 374,000 students across Ireland and has been advocating for a Yes vote from its members.