Ireland to hold May 25 referendum on legalising abortion

IRELAND will hold a referendum on May 25 over whether to legalise abortion, an issue that has long divided the once deeply Catholic nation.

IRELAND will hold a referendum on May 25, 2018, on whether or not to liberalise the country’s strict constitutional position on abortion.

The move came after both houses of the Oireachtas in Dublin passed the legislation required to hold a referendum on the contentious issue. Citizens will be asked whether they want to repeal the Eighth Amendment of Ireland’s Constitution, a provision that makes abortion illegal in all but exceptional circumstances.

The total electorate currently stands at around 3.2 million. A complete ban on abortion was only lifted five years ago for cases where the mother’s life was in danger.

People carry various signs as they take part in a march calling for the repeal of the 8th amendment to the Irish constitution, in Dublin. Picture: Niall Carson/PA via AP

That move fuelled calls to give voters under the age of 50 their first say on more comprehensive reform.

Voters will be asked if they wish to repeal an amendment to the constitution that was inserted following a 1983 referendum to enshrine the equal right to life of the mother and her unborn child, and to instead enable parliament to set the laws.

“After weeks and months of politicians debating the issue, now the people of Ireland get the chance to have their say,” Health Minister Simon Harris said after the date was announced.

“My message is if you can no longer accept thousands of women every year going abroad to access terminations, this is your time to right that wrong,” said Mr Harris, who will campaign for a change in the law.

The issue has long divided the once deeply Catholic nation. Picture: Niall Carson/PA via AP

Amnesty International welcomed the announcement, calling it “a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Ireland to put in place laws which respect the #humanrights of women & girls”.

Leaders from the Church of Ireland, an Anglican denomination, urged voters “to think through the issues involved carefully”.

“There is, for Christians, a very clear witness in the Scriptures that all human life, including before physical birth, has a sacred dignity in the eyes of God,” they said.

There have already been five referendums related to the issue, the first in 1983.

But in recent years the Irish parliament had stalled proposals to hold another poll, as well as legislation to relax the laws allowing abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormality.

Originally published as Ireland to hold May 25 referendum on legalising abortion