Landslide support to repeal Ireland’s abortion ban

Repealing the amendment, which has been in existence since 1983 will not guarantee legalized abortion, but it will allow the government to discuss a change to current legislation.

A plane carrying Irish voters trying to return home to vote in the abortion referendum has collided with another plane on a taxiway at a London-area airport, delaying passengers but causing no injuries. “There is a clear division between urban and rural communities geographically, between east and west, between old and young”, said Barker.

“Cmon Ireland! This is your day to make another great decision”.

Theresa Sweeney, a repeal supporter, was one of the first to arrive at a church polling station in Dublin.

John McGuirk, communications director for the “Save the 8th” campaign pushing a “No” vote, reacted to the exit poll on Twitter.

Voters have until 10:00pm (2100 GMT) on Friday to cast their ballots at some 6,500 polling stations, after which an exit poll of 3,000 voters will be released on national broadcaster RTE. The exit poll is only a prediction and the official count will be announced Saturday in the afternoon or evening.

Voters were asked whether to repeal an Irish constitutional amendment that gives mother and the unborn an equal right to life.

The Irish government’s push to liberalize the laws is in contrast to the United States, where abortion has always been legal, but President Donald Trump backs stripping federal funding from women’s health care clinics that offer abortions.

Effectively, that means abortion is banned in Ireland unless the pregnancy poses a real and substantial risk to the mother’s life.

Nearly 31 percent voted No. About 1.2 million people vote.

Seeking or providing an abortion in Ireland was a criminal offense that carries up to 14 years behind bars.

This referendum is not on whether abortion can happen in Ireland: abortions have and will always happen in Ireland.

What does the law say today? .

This comes as a Monday Sky Data poll shows 47 percent of those surveyed support legalizing abortion through the first trimester of pregnancy while those against abortion number 37 percent and 11 percent remain undecided.

Why is this vote happening now? .

“So many women have traveled across to England to take care of their family and healthcare needs and I think it’s a disgrace and it needs to change”, she said, referring to women who travel to Britain for abortions.

Some Irish citizens had travelled from as far as Tokyo and Australia to cast their votes.

“For Ireland, it’s hope for the future”, she said of the referendum. The referendum was called earlier this year. “That he was a living human being in the womb of Mary and it’s fairly hard for anyone who would say that if they believed that to then say they didn’t believe that he didn’t have a right to be born”.

“Abortion does one thing, and one thing only – it kills a baby”, the Save the 8th campaign said.

“I did a little volunteering to canvas, and when you go out to houses, talk to people, they really tell you their mixed opinions, so there’s very complex views and I think it could be quite close”. According to several exit polls, it looks as if pro-abortion forces have decisively delivered enough votes to overturn the country’s 8th amendment that bans abortion.

What is the main argument to repeal it? . Numerous anti-abortion signs showed photographs of foetuses.