Final Declaration:
YES: 1,429,981 votes
NO: 723,632 votes
The 36th Amendment is passed and the Eighth is repealed.
In a few hours the polls will open and the people of Ireland will vote on the 36th Amendment to Bunreacht na hÉireann, the Constitution of Ireland. If passed, the 36th Amendment will repeal the 8th Amendment. The 8th Amendment, passed by referendum in 1983, enshrined in law the equal right to life of the unborn, thus prohibiting abortion. Further, the 36th Amendment will insert into the Constitution language permitting the government to pass legislation regulating the termination of pregnancies.
So, if passed, the 36th Amendment will make abortion legal, and subject to regulation by ordinary legislation. If rejected, abortion will remain illegal except when necessary to save the life of the mother, until and unless the Constitution is amended.
As one might imagine, the national conversation has been heated. The No campaign appeal to the humanity of the unborn, the cruelty of ending the lives of the innocent and helpless, especially if the reason for doing so if that they have Down Syndrome or some other disability. The Yes campaign point to what have become known as the "hard cases". Cases of women pregnant by rape, pregnant by incest, or carrying a baby with fatal foetal abnormalities, a baby which will survive the pregnancy but certainly die shortly after being born. The No campaigners say this will lead to abortion on demand. The Yes campaigners say that Irish abortions already happen, either in clinics in England or in Irish bedrooms by way of illegal abortion pills. Imagine any NSG abortion thread, add some uniquely Irish flairs, and blow it up to a country with over three million registered voters.
Perhaps the most perverse of the uniquely Irish flairs in this instance is the matter of women "travelling". I.e. travelling abroad to terminate their pregnancies. About a dozen women every day fly to England to terminate their pregnancies. Also, Ireland is a stupid country that doesn't facilitate postal voting for expatriates. So whenever there is an election or referendum, people have to come back to Ireland from all over the world to vote. And a huge referendum like this? A lot of people are coming home to vote. So even now, people coming home to vote to legalise abortion are crossing paths with women leaving the country because abortion isn't legal. It's a mad country.
Polling has been tight, with large numbers of undecided voters. I'm hopeful there'll be a Yes result, especially with the #hometovote-ers, but it's hardly a sure thing. I'll be voting Yes myself. I've been pro-choice for as long as I've been aware of the issue, and the better part of a decade and a half on NSG has only strengthened that belief.
I've put the English of the question that will appear on the ballots tomorrow as the poll title. People love a poll. The actual polls will close at 10pm BST(GMT+1), and the results can be expected a few hours later. More information about the referendum itself can be found at refcom2018.ie
