POLLS SHOW ‘REVOLUTION’ IN ABORTION RIGHTS FOR IRELAND
Early referendum results show two-thirds want a repeal of the ban
Prime Minister Leo Varadkar yesterday hailed Ireland’s “quiet revolution” after exit polls and early results showed Irish voters had overwhelmingly supported repealing a decades-old ban on abortion in the predominantly Roman Catholic country.
Results from the first four of 40 constituencies to declare showed 66.36 per cent voted “yes” and 33.64 per cent voted “no”, on a 62 per cent turnout.
The “yes” vote was at 77 per cent in Dublin Central, 69 per cent in Cork South Central, 64 per cent in Cork North Central and 60 per cent in Galway East.
The results bear out exit polls after Friday’s vote on repealing a 1983 constitutional amendment that led to some of Europe’s strictest abortion laws. A poll of 4,000 voters for The
Irish Times newspaper put the pro-choice camp ahead by 68 per cent to 32 per cent, while a second survey of 3,800 voters by national broadcaster RTE put the margin at 69 per cent to 31 per cent.
“What we’ve seen today is the culmination of a quiet revolution that has been taking place in Ireland for the past 10 or 20 years,” Mr Varadkar told RTE.
“The people have said that we want a modern constitution for a modern country, that we trust women and that we respect them to make the right decisions and the right choices about their own health care.”
Mr Varadkar said he planned for a law permitting abortions to be in place by the end of the year. Health Minister Simon Harris said the cabinet would meet on Tuesday to approve the drafting of legislation.
The government has proposed that if the amendment is repealed, abortion will be allowed in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and between 12 and 24 weeks in exceptional circumstances.
The referendum result looks set to be another blow to the Roman Catholic Church’s authority in Ireland, coming three years after voters backed legalising same-sex marriage by 62 per cent. Mr Varadkar, Ireland’s first openly gay
prime minister, came to power last year in another major milestone for diversity in the country.
The church’s influence has waned in recent years after child sex abuse scandals. The referendum comes three months before a visit by Pope Francis for the World Meeting of Families.
The Irish Times survey suggested women voted by 70 per cent in favour of the proposal and men by 65 per cent.
People over 65 voted 60 per cent against repealing the legislation, which only allows terminations in cases where the mother’s life is in danger. But all other age groups backed the proposal, with support at 87 per cent among the youngest voters, aged between 18 and 24.
About 3.5 million people were eligible to vote in the referendum, with the final result to be declared at Dublin Castle.
In Dublin, many voters welcomed the result.
“We’ve pulled ourselves out of the dark ages,” said Catherine Claffey, 53, a flower seller on the capital’s Grafton Street shopping district. “We’re not a backward country any more, the way the church would have had us thinking.”
John Kelly, 62, said: “I’m actually very proud of it.”
The anti-abortion campaign vowed to stand firm.
“Abortion on demand would deal Ireland a tragic blow but the pro-life movement will rise to any challenge it faces,” said prominent anti-abortion campaigner Cora Sherlock.
Under the eighth amendment, anyone terminating a pregnancy in Ireland faced up to 14 years in jail. From 2013, terminations were allowed if the mother’s life was at risk.
Since 1983, 170,000 Irish women have gone abroad for terminations.
Naomi Long, leader of the Alliance Party in Northern Ireland, said “eyes will now turn” north of the border, where abortion and same-sex marriage remain illegal, unlike the rest of the UK.