Ireland vote brings issue out of shadows

If anyone was in need of a remedy for referendum fatigue, it can surely be found in the passion of the thousands of expats returning to Ireland for today’s vote on changing the country’s abortion laws.

There are few more emotive topics, whichever side of the debate you are on, but few can argue the existing system is fit for purpose.

Terminations have been allowed in Ireland since 2013 but only when the life of the mother is at risk. The law, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years for accessing an illegal abortion, is among the most restrictive of its kind in the world and has been blamed for numerous tragedies – most notably the death of Savita Halappanavar, from sepsis, after she was refused an abortion during a miscarriage in 2012.

If it meant terminations were not happening, those campaigning for the status quo might have a stronger case.

But, while the Irish Department of Health recorded just 25 legal abortions in the country in 2016, another 3,265 women travelled to the UK for a termination.

Amanda Mellet, who had to go to England to terminate a pregnancy with fatal foetal anomaly, took her case to the UN Human Rights Committee, which ruled the system amounted to “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment”.

Today’s vote is in the hands of the Irish people and those people look set to participate in record numbers. Whichever way it goes, they have demonstrated to those in power that turning a blind eye is no longer an option.