Sunday, May 27, 2018

Irish voters show landslide support for liberalizing abortion laws, exit poll shows

Thang Duong

Ireland appears poised to overwhelmingly overturn a constitutional amendment that bans abortion in almost all circumstances, according to an exit poll. Based on The Eight Amendment, which was added to the constitution following a referendum in 1983, places the right of the fetus and the right of its mother on equal footing, effectively banning abortion baring a "real and substantial risk" to the mother's life. If the referendum ultimately passes, Irish lawmakers are expected to enact legislation allowing for terminations in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and later where in cases where there is  a risk to the mother's life of the fetus is not expected to survive. If early indications are wrong, and a No vote is secured, Ireland's abortion laws which are some of the strictest in developed world will be kept in place.
The poll released by Ireland's national broadcaster RTE shortly after polling stations closed on Friday night predicted that nearly 70% voted in favor of repealing the Eight Amendment to Ireland's Constitution. The RTE exit poll shows 69.4% voting "yes" and 30.6% "no".

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/25/europe/ireland-abortion-referendum-exit-polls-intl/index.html

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