Ireland to hold abortion referendum at end of May

DUBLIN: Ireland will hold a referendum on liberalising its restrictive abortion laws at the end of May, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announced.

Accepting that it would be a difficult decision for voters to make in the traditionally deeply Catholic country, Varadkar said he would be advocating a Yes vote, convinced that abortion no longer had a place in the republic’s constitution.

“This evening, the Cabinet gave formal approval to the holding of a referendum on abortion, which will be held at the end of May,” Varadkar said on Monday at a press conference in Dublin, following a lengthy meeting with ministers.

He said the exact date would be known following the conclusion of debates in parliament.

Abortion has always been illegal in Ireland and in 1983, an eighth amendment was added to the constitution after a referendum, giving equal rights to the life of the unborn child and the mother.

The law was changed three decades later to allow termination when the mother’s life is at risk, following public outrage at the death of a pregnant woman in 2012 who was refused an abortion.

Varadkar said debates and votes would be held in the lower and upper houses of parliament, but he was “confident this timeline can be met” for a referendum in late May.

The Irish Times said its research in recent weeks found comfortable majorities in both houses in favour of a referendum.