Yes, No, Maybe, I don’t know? Can you repeat the question

Ireland to vote on abortion rights

Today, Friday the 25th, Ireland is voting on a thorny issue that has the country divided: the right to terminate a pregnancy.

The vote asks the citizens whether or not to change the so-called “eight amendment”, which is in fact article 40.3.3 of the Irish Constitution. The fact that the ban is enshrined in the constitution is not the only reason why Ireland still has one of the most restrictive abortion legislations in Europe.

The subject is a real taboo in the Irish society and it was politically avoided for years for fear of losing important votes from the more traditional rural areas. Yet in 2012, the situation changed because of a tragic event that shook the country. Savita Halappanavar, a 31 years old girl, died of septicemia one week after her abortion request was rejected at the Galway clinic. This event sparked a debate that lead to the 2013 law that now allows mothers to terminate the pregnancy in case of a life-threatening situation.

Besides this extreme case, Irish women today must travel abroad (most go to Great Britain) which puts an emotional, social and economical strain on them.

Yesterday the polls gave a slight edge to the “yes” vote with 44% with the “no” at 32%. The undecided will (forgive the pun) decide the future of the referendum and were the target of a campaign that engulfed the country for months. From abroad many citizens returned home to cast their ballot (in fact it was a trending hashtag, #hometovote) which would supposedly give the yes vote an edge. Such was the delicate equilibrium though, that the tech giants Facebook, Google and Youtube stopped advertising on the issue and even Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, a doctor himself, was cautiously supporting the yes campaign without giving too much away.

This is because, even in case of a victory of the yes vote, the parliament will still have to pass a legislation to modify the current situation. A legislation that would then rotate on how and when to regulate abortion which will encounter a strong opposition, since the Government itself is a minority one and because of how divisive the issue is. Furthermore the Prime Minister made it clear that this is a “once in a generation” vote so the result would be particularly important in light of the uncertain future of the Irish/UK future relationship after Brexit.

Nevertheless, today the Irish people will cast their vote to decide the direction to take: either continue on the progressive social path that led to the liberalization of gay marriages three years ago or it will prove that the Catholic Church still holds a big influence in a country that changed a lot, but has, perhaps, encountered the limit of its ability to social reform.