Ireland to hold abortion referendum in May

DUBLIN: Ireland will hold a referendum at the end of May on liberalising its restrictive abortion laws, a highly sensitive issue in the traditionally devoutly Catholic country.

Leo Varadkar, who as the country’s youngest ever prime minister is regarded as relatively liberal on social issues, made the announcement late Monday, accepting it would be a difficult decision for Irish voters.

“This is a decision about whether we want to continue to stigmatise and criminalise our sisters, our co-workers, and our friends,” he told a press conference in Dublin.

The referendum will ask voters if they want to keep the constitutional restriction on abortion or repeal it and allow the Irish parliament to legislate on the issue.

The plebiscite would come three years after a referendum in which Ireland voted by a landslide to legalise same-sex marriage – a seismic change in Ireland, where the Church has historically been a powerful force.

It would also take place shortly before Pope Francis visits the island of Ireland in August.

“This evening, the cabinet gave formal approval to the holding of a referendum on abortion, which will be held at the end of May,” said Varadkar, who is also the country’s first openly gay prime minister.

Advocating a Yes vote, Varadkar said he believed the time had come for the public to make a decision on some of Europe’s toughest laws on pregnancy termination.