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The Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland (previously
bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...
no. 29 of 2018) is an
amendment An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. The ...
to the
Constitution of Ireland The Constitution of Ireland ( ga, Bunreacht na hÉireann, ) is the fundamental law of Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. The constitution, based on a system of representative democracy, is broadly within the traditi ...
which permits the Oireachtas to legislate for
abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
. The
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
had previously prohibited abortion unless there was a serious risk to the life of the mother. The proposal is often described as the Repeal of the Eighth Amendment, referring to the 1983 constitutional amendment which guaranteed the right to life of the unborn, making abortion illegal unless the pregnancy was life-threatening. The 2018 amendment replaces Article 40.3.3° of the Constitution, which was added in 1983 and amended in 1992. The bill was introduced to the Oireachtas on 9 March 2018 by the Fine Gael minority coalition government, and completed its passage through both houses on 27 March 2018. It was put to a
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
on 25 May 2018 and approved by 66.4% of voters. The amendment took effect once signed into law by President
Michael D. Higgins Michael Daniel Higgins ( ga, Mícheál Dónal Ó hUigínn; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, sociologist, and broadcaster, who has served as the ninth president of Ireland since November 2011. Entering national politics throug ...
on 18 September 2018.


Background

The British Offences Against the Person Act 1861, which made "unlawful procurement of a miscarriage" a crime, remained in force after Irish independence in 1922. The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution adopted in 1983, which declares "the right to life of the unborn ... equal
o the O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), pl ...
right to life of the mother", was instigated by the
Pro-Life Amendment Campaign The Pro-Life Amendment Campaign (PLAC) was an anti-abortion advocacy organisation established in Ireland in 1981. It campaigned in favour of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, which was approved by referendum on 7 September 1983 ...
for fear that the 1861 prohibition might be weakened by liberal legislators or activist judges. In 1992, Supreme Court ruled in the "X case" (''
Attorney General v. X ''Attorney General v X'', 992IESC 1; 9921 IR 1, (more commonly known as the "X Case") was a landmark Irish Supreme Court case which established the right of Irish women to an abortion if a pregnant woman's life was at risk because of pregnanc ...
'') that abortion is permitted where pregnancy threatens a woman's life, including by risk of suicide. No regulatory framework within the limited scope of the X case judgement was passed until the
Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013 The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013 ( Act No.35 of 2013; previously Bill No.66 of 2013) was an Act of the Oireachtas which, until 2018, defined the circumstances and processes within which abortion in Ireland could be legally perfor ...
, impelled by ''
A, B and C v Ireland ''A, B and C v Ireland'' is a landmark 2010 case of the European Court of Human Rights on the right to privacy under Article 8. The court rejected the argument that article 8 conferred a right to abortion, but found that Ireland had violated ...
'' (2010) in the
European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
and
death of Savita Halappanavar Savita Halappanavar ( Savita Andanappa Yalagi; 9 September 1981 – 28 October 2012) was a dentist of South Asian people in Ireland, Indian origin, living in Ireland, who died from sepsis after her request for an abortion was denied on legal gro ...
in 2012 after miscarriage. The 2013 Act repealed the 1861 Act, and makes "destruction of unborn human life" a crime. In the three years 2014–2016, a total of 77 legal abortions were performed under the 2013 Act. Illegal
surgical abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregnan ...
s in Ireland have been practically unknown since the UK's
Abortion Act 1967 The Abortion Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom legalising abortions on certain grounds by registered practitioners, and regulating the tax-paid provision of such medical practices through the National Health Service (NHS ...
allowed Irish women to travel to Great Britain for a legal abortion. The 13th and 14th amendments to the constitution, passed in 1992 after the X case, guarantee the right to information about foreign abortions and to travel abroad for an abortion. The number of women at UK abortion clinics giving Irish addresses peaked at 6,673 in 2001, and was 3,265 in 2016. The decline is partly due to unregulated use of
abortion pill A medical abortion, also known as medication abortion, occurs when drugs (medication) are used to bring about an abortion. Medical abortions are an alternative to surgical abortions such as vacuum aspiration or dilation and curettage. Medical ...
s illegally delivered from
online pharmacies An online pharmacy, internet pharmacy, or mail-order pharmacy is a pharmacy that operates over the Internet and sends orders to customers through mail, shipping companies, or online pharmacy web portal. Online pharmacies include: * Pharmacy bene ...
. While left-wing parties and feminists opposed the 1983 amendment, and have advocated its repeal, this was not supported by the two largest parties for most of the interim:
Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...
, and
Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil ...
. In the 2010s, while both parties' leadership opposed broad liberalisation, some accepted the argument for abortion in cases like fatal foetal abnormalities and pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, which are not permitted by the 1983 amendment. These became the focus of campaigning after the 2013 Act. The
Abortion Rights Campaign The Abortion Rights Campaign (ARC) is an Irish abortion rights group. The group's goal is the introduction of free and legal abortion in Ireland and Northern Ireland. A significant aim prior to May 2018 was the repeal of the Eighth Amendment of ...
, a pro-choice alliance formed in 2012, holds an annual "March for Choice" in Dublin. Anti-abortion groups have countered with a "Rally for Life". In the run up to the 2016 general election, a number of parties committed to a referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment (
Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
,
Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
,
Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
,
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...
, and Workers' Party) and a group of feminist law academics published model legislation to show what a post-Eighth Amendment abortion law could look like. A Fine Gael–led government under Taoiseach
Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 2017, Leader of the Opposition from ...
took office after the 2016 election with a programme which promised a randomly selected
Citizens' Assembly A citizens' assembly (also known as citizens' jury or citizens' panel or people's jury or policy jury or citizens' initiative review or consensus conference or citizens' convention) is a body formed from randomly selected citizens to delibera ...
to report on possible changes to the Eighth Amendment, which would be considered by an Oireachtas committee, to whose report the government would respond officially in debates in both houses of the Oireachtas. Leo Varadkar replaced Enda Kenny as Taoiseach on 14 June 2017 and promised to hold a referendum on abortion in 2018. The Citizens' Assembly, chaired by Supreme Court judge
Mary Laffoy Mary Eleanor Laffoy, SC (born 17 June 1945) is a retired Irish judge who is currently President of the Law Reform Commission. She previously served as a Judge of the Supreme Court from 2013 to 2017, and a Judge of the High Court from 1995 to ...
, discussed the issue from November 2016 to April 2017 with invited experts and stakeholders, and voted to recommend repealing the existing text and replacing it with an explicit mandate for the Oireachtas to legislate on abortion. It also made recommendations for the consequent legislation, which were more liberal than media commentators had expected. The assembly's report was considered from September to December 2017 by a special Oireachtas committee of 21 members, which also discussed the issue with invited experts; its recommendations by majority vote were broadly similar to those of the assembly. However, it said that because of difficulties legislating for rape and incest, abortion should be legal up to 12 weeks' gestation without restriction; on the other hand, it did not favour socio-economic grounds for abortion after 12 weeks. In January 2018,
Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...
Simon Harris Simon Harris (born 17 October 1986) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael since 2024. A TD for the Wicklow constituency since 2011, he has served as a minister in the government of Ireland since 2016 and f ...
opened the Dáil debate on the committee's report by listing the numbers from each county who travelled to Great Britain for an abortion in 2016.
Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...
leader
Micheál Martin Micheál Martin (; born 1 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who is serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence since December 2022. He served as Taoiseach from 2020 to 2022 and has been Leader of ...
declared that he had changed his view on the issue and gave his support for Repeal of the Eighth Amendment and for the committee's recommendations. Further action was called into question by a July 2016 High Court ruling that a foetus was a child within the meaning of Article 42A of the Constitution, which guarantees
children's rights Children's rights are a subset of human rights with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to minors.
. The Supreme Court agreed to expedite the government's appeal of the decision, and on 7 March 2018 overturned the High Court judgement, ruling that a foetus was not a child and had no rights other than the right to life mentioned in Article 40.3.3°.


Changes to the text

The Amendment replaced the text of Article 40.3.3º, which read: Note: The first clause was added by the Eighth Amendment approved by referendum in 1983. The second and third clauses were added by the Thirteenth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment respectively approved by referendum in 1992. As the Amendment passed, the subsection was replaced with the following text:


Subsequent legislation

The
Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...
published a policy paper on "Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy" on 9 March 2018. This provided an outline of the policies for legislation which would repeal and replace the
Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013 The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013 ( Act No.35 of 2013; previously Bill No.66 of 2013) was an Act of the Oireachtas which, until 2018, defined the circumstances and processes within which abortion in Ireland could be legally perfor ...
if the Amendment of Constitution Bill was passed in a referendum. Under this scheme, abortion would be permissible in circumstances where: * there is a risk to the health of a woman, on assessment by two doctors, without a distinction between physical and mental health; * there is a medical emergency, on assessment by one doctor; * there is a foetal condition which is likely to lead to death before or shortly after birth, on the assessment of two doctors; * up to 12 weeks of pregnancy without specific indication, with a time period after an initial assessment by a medical practitioner and the termination procedure. The Policy Paper also proposed that: * medical practitioners would have a right of conscientious objection; * the termination of pregnancy in circumstances other than those under the proposal would be a criminal offence, but that a woman who procures or seeks to procure a termination of pregnancy for herself would not be guilty of an offence. On 26 March 2018,
Tánaiste The Tánaiste ( , ) is the deputy head of the government of Ireland and thus holder of its second-most senior office. The Tánaiste is appointed by the President of Ireland on the advice of the Taoiseach. The current office holder is former Tao ...
Simon Coveney Simon Coveney (born 16 June 1972) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment since December 2022 and Deputy Leader of Fine Gael since 2017. He previously served as Minister for Foreign Affai ...
announced he would support legislation on the lines of the policy paper, but suggested that this should be entrenched by requiring a two-thirds supermajority in the Dáil for any later amendment. This was aimed at voters prepared to accept the policy-paper regulations, but wary of subsequent liberalisation. Coveney's proposal was dismissed as unconstitutional. On 27 March 2018, the cabinet agreed the general scheme of the proposed "Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Bill 2018", which health minister
Simon Harris Simon Harris (born 17 October 1986) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael since 2024. A TD for the Wicklow constituency since 2011, he has served as a minister in the government of Ireland since 2016 and f ...
summarised that evening in the Seanad. The scheme was published online the following day. Even after the referendum had passed, "Abortion
ould Ould is an English surname and an Arabic name ( ar, ولد). In some Arabic dialects, particularly Hassaniya Arabic, ولد‎ (the patronymic, meaning "son of") is transliterated as Ould. Most Mauritanians have patronymic surnames. Notable p ...
remain illegal in almost all circumstances until the Oireachtas passes legislation providing otherwise". Health Minister Simon Harris, speaking a few days before the referendum, said the Government hoped to introduce the bill in the Dáil in the autumn and to have passed it by the end of 2018.


Oireachtas debate

The Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution Bill was introduced by
Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...
Simon Harris Simon Harris (born 17 October 1986) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael since 2024. A TD for the Wicklow constituency since 2011, he has served as a minister in the government of Ireland since 2016 and f ...
. The debate on the Second Stage began on 9 March 2018. The Bill passed all stages in the Dáil on 21 March. The main vote on the bill was at
second stage A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket ''stages'', each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A ''tandem'' or ''serial'' stage is mounted on top of another stage; a ''parallel'' stage i ...
, with 110 in favour and 32 against. Of the 16 who did not vote at second stage, five voted in favour in subsequent votes. At
committee stage In the United Kingdom an act of Parliament is primary legislation passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. An act of Parliament can be enforced in all four of the UK constituent countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Irelan ...
, there were votes on Section 2 of the bill (98–18) and the
short title In certain jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and other Westminster-influenced jurisdictions (such as Canada or Australia), as well as the United States and the Philippines, primary legislation has both a short title and a long title. Th ...
(96–20); there was also a vote on the
final stage Final stage or The Final Stage may refer to: * '' The Final Stage'', 1995 film directed by Frank Howson * Fifth stage of a bill's passage through a legislative chamber * In a multi-stage tournament: ** knockout stage ** playoffs The playoffs, p ...
(97–25).
Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...
TDs had a
free vote A conscience vote or free vote is a type of vote in a legislative body where legislators are allowed to vote according to their own personal conscience rather than according to an official line set down by their political party. In a parliamentary ...
although
Micheál Martin Micheál Martin (; born 1 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who is serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence since December 2022. He served as Taoiseach from 2020 to 2022 and has been Leader of ...
was reported to be upset at how many voted against the bill.
Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil ...
also gave a free vote, including for ministers. In the Seanad, the second stage was held on 27 March, with a 35–10 vote in favour. Remaining stages were the following day, with the bill passed 39–8 at committee stage and 40–10 at final stage. Eight of the thirteen Fianna Fáil senators voted against, as did two of nineteen from Fine Gael, and independent
Rónán Mullen Rónán Thomas Mullen (born 13 October 1970) is an Irish senator and former delegate to the Council of Europe. He is the leader of the Human Dignity Alliance, an anti-abortion political party formed in 2018. He was elected by the National Un ...
. ;Notes:


Campaign

On 9 March 2018, Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government
Eoghan Murphy Eoghan Murphy (born Dublin, 23 April 1982) is a former Fine Gael politician who was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Bay South constituency from 2016 until 27 April 2021, and previously from 2011 to 2016 for the Dublin South-East constitu ...
established the statutory
Referendum Commission A Referendum Commission ( ga, An Coimisiún Reifrinn) is an independent statutory body in Ireland which is set up in advance of any referendum. The Referendum Act 1998 as amended by the Referendum Act 2001 provides for the establishment of the bod ...
to oversee the referendum campaign, with High Court judge Isobel Kennedy as chair. Both
Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil ...
and
Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...
had allowed their TDs a free vote on the issue in the Dáil. However, although Fine Gael "cannot adopt an official party position because members have been afforded a freedom of conscience vote on issues to do with the referendum", on 21 April,
Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the o ...
and Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar launched a Fine Gael "Vote Yes" campaign for Yes-supporting party members, along with party colleagues, including Minister for Health
Simon Harris Simon Harris (born 17 October 1986) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael since 2024. A TD for the Wicklow constituency since 2011, he has served as a minister in the government of Ireland since 2016 and f ...
and Fine Gael referendum coordinator,
Josepha Madigan Josepha Madigan (born 21 May 1970) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion since July 2020. She has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Rathdown constituency since 2016. Sh ...
. On 8 May 2018, due to controversy over the origin, number, content, and targeting of adverts on social media,
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
announced that it would block advertisements placed by foreign entities, most of whom are in the United States, and limit them to adverts placed by Irish organisations. On 9 May,
Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
announced that it was blocking all adverts on the referendum from its advertising platform and
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, citing concerns around the integrity of elections. On 9 May, the fund-raising web pages of Together for Yes, Amnesty Ireland and Termination for Medical Reasons were subjected to a
denial-of-service attack In computing, a denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) is a cyber-attack in which the perpetrator seeks to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting services of a host conn ...
. On 20 May, the parents of
Savita Halappanavar Savita may refer to: * Savitr, a Hindu deity associated with motion and the sun * Savita Ambedkar Savita Bhimrao Ambedkar ( Kabir; 27 January 1909 – 29 May 2003), was an Indian social activist, doctor and the second wife of Babasaheb Ambedk ...
called for a Yes vote, her father saying, "I hope the people of Ireland will vote yes for abortion, for the ladies of Ireland and the people of Ireland. My daughter, she lost her life because of this abortion law, because of the diagnosis, and she could not have an abortion. She died." After the Yes vote won, Halappanavar's father thanked the people of Ireland. On 23 May,
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
reported that American-based anti-abortion groups, such as "Let Them Live", have flown to Ireland, in order to sway voters to vote No to the amendment. They entered into Ireland by lying to Irish border control about their reason for coming to Ireland, claiming they were only in Ireland to document the event and nothing more. On 24 May, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reported that thousands of Irish citizens living outside the country were travelling back to Ireland to vote in the referendum – postal or absentee voting is not generally allowed. While some travelled short distances from cities like London or
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, others, often supporting the measure, returned from distant locations like
Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
,
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
, and
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
. These voters coalesced online under the
social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
hashtag "#HomeToVote" and in-person during their transport. The journeys resembled a similar movement in advance of the 2015 Irish constitutional referendums that resulted in the approval of the
Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland The Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Act 2015 (previously bill no. 5 of 2015) amended the Constitution of Ireland to permit marriage to be contracted by two persons without distinction as to their sex. Prior to t ...
concerning same-sex marriage. In some cases, the travelling voters may have been in breach of Irish law, which removes the right to vote in a referendum from most non-residents, as only those who have lived away for less than 18 months were legally entitled to take part in the referendum. The use of the #HomeToVote hashtag was part of a larger campaign effort from activists who utilised social media, particularly Twitter, to connect and communicate with citizens. Together for Yes used social media to highlight the lived experiences of women endangered by the abortion ban, placing what was viewed as a private issue into the public to "mobilise emotions" online, in the hope that they would vote "Yes".


Endorsing a Yes vote

;Political parties * Communist Party of Ireland *
Éirígí Éirígí (), officially Éirígí For A New Republic, is a socialist republican political party in Ireland. The party name, , means "Arise" or "Rise Up" in Irish, and is a reference to the slogan "The great only appear great because we are on ...
*
Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
* Labour Party *
Solidarity–People Before Profit People Before Profit/Solidarity ( ga, Pobal Roimh Bhrabús/Dlúthphairtíocht, PBPS, PBP/S, or S-PBP) is a left-wing electoral alliance in the Republic of Ireland. It was formed by members of two socialist political parties in the Republic of I ...
*
Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
*
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...
* The Workers' Party ;Other organisations *
Together for Yes Together for Yes (TFY) is an abortion rights campaign group in Ireland. It campaigned successfully for a Yes vote in the 2018 referendum to ratify the Thirty-sixth Amendment, which removed the Eighth Amendment's constitutional ban on abortion ...
, an umbrella group bringing together many pro-repeal organisations, including the
Irish Council for Civil Liberties The Irish Council for Civil Liberties ( ga, An Chomhairle um Chearta Daonna) is an Irish non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting the civil liberties and human rights of people in Ireland. History Founded in 1976 by future President Mary ...
, the
Irish Family Planning Association The Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) is an Irish charity working to enable people to make informed choices about sexuality and reproduction. The organisation promotes the right of all people to sexual and reproductive health information as ...
, the
Union of Students in Ireland The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) ( ga, Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn) is the national representative body for Tertiary education, third-level students' unions in Ireland. Founded in 1959, USI represents more than 374,000 students in over ...
,
SIPTU SIPTU (; ''Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union''; ga, An Ceardchumann Seirbhísí, Tionsclaíoch, Gairmiúil agus Teicniúil) is Ireland's largest trade union, with around 200,000 members. Most of these members are in the Rep ...
, and Inclusion Ireland, the national association for people with an intellectual disability. * The Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists: The executive committee of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists within the
Royal College of Physicians of Ireland The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI), ( ga, Coláiste Ríoga Lianna na hÉireann) is an Irish professional body dedicated to improving the practice of general medicine and related medical specialities, chiefly through the accredit ...
voted 18–0, with one abstention, in favour of repeal. * The
Irish Congress of Trade Unions The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (often abbreviated to just Congress or ICTU), formed in 1959 by the merger of the Irish Trades Union Congress (founded in 1894) and the Congress of Irish Unions (founded in 1945), is a national trade union centr ...
and constituent members
Unite Unite may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Unite'' (A Friend in London album), 2013 album by Danish band A Friend in London * ''Unite'' (Kool & the Gang album), 1993 * ''Unite'' (The O.C. Supertones album), 2005 Songs ...
, Mandate, the Communications Workers' Union, and SIPTU published a newspaper with many articles calling for a Yes vote on International Workers' Day. * ''
The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' endorsed a Yes vote in an editorial, arguing, "The Eighth Amendment has turned out to be more damaging than its critics in those febrile days dared imagine", and urging readers to "Repeal the Eighth".


Endorsing a No vote

;Political parties *
Renua Ireland Renua Ireland, commonly called Renua, is a fringe political party in Ireland. The party was launched on 13 March 2015, with former Fine Gael TD Lucinda Creighton as founding leader. Prior to its launch it had used the slogan Reboot Ireland. Th ...
* National Party ;Other organisations * The
Pro Life Campaign Pro Life Campaign (PLC) is an Irish anti-abortion advocacy organisation. Its primary spokesperson is Cora Sherlock. It is a non-denominational organisation which promotes anti-abortion views, and opposes abortion in all circumstances, including ...
, who campaigned under the slogan "Love Both". * Save the 8th, a campaign supported by the Life Institute and
Youth Defence Youth Defence is an Irish organisation that opposes legalisation of abortion. It was founded in 1986 (during the 1986 divorce referendum), lay dormant, and was reformed in 1992 following the ''X Case'' ruling. It shared offices with the Euro ...
, registered with the
Standards in Public Office Commission The Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) ( ga, Coimisiún um Chaighdeáin in Oifigí Poiblí) is an independent body established in December 2001 by the Irish Government under the Standards in Public Office Act, 2001. It replaced the Public ...
in January 2018. * Abortion Never, a campaign backed by then unregistered National Party. * Cherish All the Children Equally, a group which describes itself as "progressive, republican, and of the left", and includes Sinn Féin supporters disillusioned with the party's stance. * The
Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference The Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference ( ga, Comhdháil Easpag Caitliceach Éireann) is the episcopal conference of the Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland. The conference meets a number of times a year in Maynooth which is the location of St Patr ...
said repealing the Eighth Amendment would be "a shocking step" and "a manifest injustice". * The
Presbyterian Church in Ireland The Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI; ga, Eaglais Phreispitéireach in Éirinn; Ulster-Scots: ''Prisbytairin Kirk in Airlann'') is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the Republic of Ireland, and the largest Protestant denomination in ...
. * The
Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland The Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland (ICCI; Irish: ''Ionad Cultúrtha Ioslamach na hÉireann'') is an Islamic complex, including a mosque, in Clonskeagh, Dublin, Ireland. It is funded by the al-Maktoum Foundation of Dubai and has a Sunni ori ...
. * The Orange Order.


Neutral and other positions

* The
Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...
issued statements favouring giving the Oireachtas responsibility for abortion legislation, but opposing unrestricted abortion up to 12 weeks' gestation; it concluded, "We therefore ask Church members to think through the issues involved carefully and with prayer". * Down Syndrome Ireland issued a statement that "it is up to each individual to make their own decision about which way to vote", and condemning the use of a baby with
Down Syndrome Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual dis ...
in a poster by "Save the 8th". *
Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...
did not take a formal position on the referendum. However, 31 of the party's TDs and Senators posed for a photograph showing their opposition to repealing the eighth, therefore over half of the parliamentary party supported a "No" vote. Nonetheless, the party's leader Micheál Martin supported "Yes", and was one of the two speakers for the "Yes" side in the final televised debate before the vote, along with Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald. *
Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil ...
"cannot adopt an official party position because members have been afforded a freedom of conscience vote on issues to do with the referendum". However,
Josepha Madigan Josepha Madigan (born 21 May 1970) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion since July 2020. She has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Rathdown constituency since 2016. Sh ...
, the Minister for Culture, Heritage, and the Gaeltacht, co-ordinated a campaign for "Yes"-supporting party members, which was formally launched on 21 April 2018 by Leo Varadkar and Simon Harris. The campaign supported Together for Yes, and some Fine Gael TDs put up posters of their own. * The
Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include t ...
reiterated its policy of neutrality on political issues, in response to media reports of various players and managers publicly taking sides. * The head imam of the Al-Mustafa Islamic Centre supported repeal of the eighth amendment and state-funded abortions in "extraordinary circumstances", but rejected "calls for abortions to be freely available until the end of the first trimester".


Television debates during the referendum campaign


Opinion and exit polling

When voters were asked how they voted, exit polls showed the following results: When respondents were asked if they would support the amendment,
opinion poll An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinion ...
s showed the following results: During the course of the referendum campaign some surveys asked if respondents supported the proposed legislation allowing termination for any reason for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The following results were recorded:


Result

Polls opened at 07:00
IST Ist or IST may refer to: Information Science and Technology * Bachelor's or Master's degree in Information Science and Technology * Graduate School / Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Japan * Graduate School ...
(UTC+1) and closed at 22:00 IST on 25 May 2018. Twelve offshore islands voted the day before, to allow for possible delays delivering ballot boxes to the count centres. Counting began at 09:00 on 26 May. All Irish citizens entered on the
electoral register An electoral roll (variously called an electoral register, voters roll, poll book or other description) is a compilation that lists persons who are entitled to vote for particular elections in a particular jurisdiction. The list is usually broke ...
were eligible to vote. A total of 3,229,672 people were on the annual electoral register (as of 15 February 2018) and an additional 118,389 electors were added to the supplementary register by the closing date of 8 May 2018, an unusually high number of late registrations.
Dáil constituencies There are 39 multi-member electoral districts, known as Dáil constituencies, that elect 160 TDs (members of parliament), to Dáil Éireann, Ireland's lower house of the Oireachtas, or parliament, by means of the single transferable vote, ...
were used to organise the voting, with the
returning officer In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies. Australia In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a state electoral ...
for each appointed by the city or county council, and results sent to the national returning officer in Dublin. Although a close result had been expected by observers, an exit poll conducted by ''
The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' predicted a 68% Yes result, while one conducted by RTÉ predicted a similar Yes result of 69.4%. The day after the vote, Save the 8th campaign conceded defeat.


Analysis of results

The turnout of voters, at 2,159,655, was the highest thus far in any Irish constitutional referendum. This beat the previous record, which had been held by the 2015 marriage equality referendum, by 209,930 votes. ;Results by Region All four regions voted Yes, ranging from 57.5% Yes for Connacht-Ulster to 75.5% for Dublin. ;By age According to exit polls by ''
The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' and by RTÉ, every age group voted Yes, except those aged 65 and over, with the highest Yes vote being from the youngest age groups. The details were: ;By gender According to the exit polls, both genders voted Yes, with women doing so somewhat more heavily than men. The details were: ;By urban-rural According to the exit polls, both urban and rural voters voted Yes, with urban voters doing so more heavily than rural ones. The details were:


Reactions to the result


Ireland

;Yes side Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said: "I think what we've seen today really is the culmination of a
quiet revolution The Quiet Revolution (french: Révolution tranquille) was a period of intense socio-political and socio-cultural change in French Canada which started in Quebec after the election of 1960, characterized by the effective secularization of govern ...
that's taken place in Ireland for the past 10 or 20 years. This has been a great exercise in democracy, and the people have spoken. The people have said we want a modern constitution for a modern country, that we trust women, and we respect them to make the right decision, the right choices about their own health care." Tánaiste
Simon Coveney Simon Coveney (born 16 June 1972) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment since December 2022 and Deputy Leader of Fine Gael since 2017. He previously served as Minister for Foreign Affai ...
said: "For me, the margin of victory is important, but equally important is that there is no Dublin versus the rest or no urban/rural divide – in virtually every part of the country, people have voted in big numbers to allow the government and the Oireachtas to change Ireland for the better." Orla O'Connor, director of the National Women's Council and co-director of Together for Yes, thanked "Yes" voters, saying: "This is phenomenal. This was a grass-roots, people campaign, and I think what today will show is that this is a people's referendum. Presuming that these exit polls are correct, the public haven't just spoken, this is a resounding roar from Irish people about the horrors of the Eighth and how women should no longer be treated as second-class citizens in our society." ;No side Cora Sherlock, of the LoveBoth campaign, said: "This is a very sad day for Ireland, that people have voted for abortion. We need to remember what they have won. All that is being offered is abortion. There has been no talking about why Irish woman travel, what options could have been put on the table."
Declan Ganley Declan James Ganley (born 23 July 1968) is an English-born Irish entrepreneur, businessman, and political activist. He was the founder and leader of the Irish branch of the Libertas Party. Primarily a telecommunications entrepreneur, Ganley has ...
tweeted: "I've been thinking about conscientious objection. I will not pay for the killing of Ireland's unborn children, I cannot be a party to it. So, there will need to be a way to exempt conscientious objectors taxes from paying for them in any way, shape, or form." Catholic Bishop
Kevin Doran Kevin Doran (born 26 June 1953) is an Irish prelate of the Catholic Church and has served as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Elphin, Bishop of Elphin since 13th July 2014. Early life and education Doran was born in Dublin in 1953. He was educated ...
said: "While the Catholic Church is a family, and nobody ever gets struck off, what I'd say to a Catholic who voted Yes is this: If you voted Yes, knowing and intending that abortion would be the outcome, then you should consider coming to Confession."


United Kingdom

UK Prime Minister
Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...
contacted Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, and posted to
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
, saying: "The Irish Referendum yesterday was an impressive show of democracy which delivered a clear and unambiguous result. I congratulate the Irish people on their decision and all of #Together4Yes on their successful campaign." However, she later reiterated her position that abortion is considered a devolved matter in Northern Ireland, and, accordingly, that the UK government would not intervene. This followed a statement from Arlene Foster, leader of the Northern Ireland's anti-abortion DUP, whose votes were needed to give May's
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
its
Parliamentary majority A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats. ...
, that the issue should be decided by the Northern Ireland Assembly. Senior Conservatives, such as Commons Health Committee chairperson
Sarah Wollaston Sarah Wollaston (born 17 February 1962) is a British former Liberal Democrat politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Totnes from 2010 to 2019. First elected for the Conservative Party, she later served as a Change UK and Liberal ...
and education minister
Anne Milton Anne Frances Milton ('' née'' Turner; born 3 November 1955) is a British politician who served as Minister of State for Skills and Apprenticeships from 2017 to 2019. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Guildford from 2005 to 2019. Elected ...
, backed calls for a free vote on the issue, while
Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
MP Stella Creasy said she would table an amendment on the matter to the Domestic Violence Bill and said that over 150 parliamentarians had expressed support for the change, and Labour's shadow Attorney General
Shami Chakrabarti Sharmishta "Shami" Chakrabarti, Baroness Chakrabarti, (born 16 June 1969) is a British politician, barrister, and human rights activist. A member of the Labour Party, she served as the director of Liberty, a major advocacy group which promote ...
called the issue a test for May's
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
. May's spokesperson refused to say whether Conservative MPs would be given a free vote in such a "hypothetical" situation, but said that there had been free votes on the abortion issue in the past. ;Northern Ireland The result re-opened the debate about the legality of abortion in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. In all constituent countries of the United Kingdom but Northern Ireland, abortion is legal in many circumstances under the
Abortion Act 1967 The Abortion Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom legalising abortions on certain grounds by registered practitioners, and regulating the tax-paid provision of such medical practices through the National Health Service (NHS ...
. Abortion in Northern Ireland has historically been considered a devolved matter, to be decided by the Northern Ireland Assembly. In Belfast, a rally took place advocating for the liberalisation of abortion laws in Northern Ireland, where there were calls for the UK government to step in. UK intervention to liberalise abortion laws in Northern Ireland is opposed by the Democratic Unionist Party, then largest party in Northern Ireland and which supported the then-minority Conservative government in the UK.


Elsewhere

*Speaking from his home in
Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
, south-west
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, Andanappa Yalagi, the father of
Savita Halappanavar Savita may refer to: * Savitr, a Hindu deity associated with motion and the sun * Savita Ambedkar Savita Bhimrao Ambedkar ( Kabir; 27 January 1909 – 29 May 2003), was an Indian social activist, doctor and the second wife of Babasaheb Ambedk ...
(who died from sepsis in 2012 after being refused an abortion in Galway), thanked the Irish people for their "historic vote". *
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...
, who, when visiting Dublin in 2017, had urged Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to liberalise Ireland's abortion laws as a fundamental
human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
issue, phoned to congratulate him, and also tweeted: "What a moment for democracy and women's rights. Tonight, I spoke with Taoiseach @campaignforLeo and his team and congratulated them on the Yes side's referendum victory legalising abortion in Ireland." *Varadkar also received messages from
Xavier Bettel Xavier Bettel (; born 3 March 1973) is a Luxembourger lawyer and politician serving as Prime Minister of Luxembourg since 2013. He was previously a member of the Chamber of Deputies (1999–2013) and Mayor of Luxembourg City (2011–2013). Be ...
,
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
of
Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
, and from Jüri Ratas,
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
of
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
. *
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
's Foreign Minister
Timo Soini Timo Juhani Soini (born 30 May 1962) is a Finnish politician who is the co-founder and former leader of the Finns Party. He served as Deputy Prime Minister of Finland from 2015 to 2017 and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2015 to 2019. He was e ...
, a
Blue Reform The Finnish Reform Movement ( fi, Korjausliike, korj), is a Finnish conservative political party. It was founded by the 19 MPs who left the Finns Party on 13 June 2017 in protest against Jussi Halla-aho having been elected party leader. The n ...
MP and "a self-described
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
", criticised the Irish abortion vote, writing that "the world had become odd if it was necessary to find reasons to defend life". Following a query by
Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
MP
Ville Niinistö Ville Matti Niinistö (born 30 July 1976) is a Finnish politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019. He is a former member of parliament, former chairperson of the Green League and served as Minister of the En ...
, Interior Minister
Kai Mykkänen Kai Aslak Mykkänen (born 31 July 1979 in Espoo) is a Finnish politician and the former Minister of the Interior. He represents the National Coalition Party in the Uusimaa electoral district. Early life Mykkänen was born in Espoo to the journali ...
, and Foreign Trade and Development Minister Anne-Mari Virolainen, both
National Coalition Party sv, Samlingspartiet , leader1_title = Chairman , leader1_name = Petteri Orpo , leader2_title = Deputy chairs , leader2_name = Antti HäkkänenElina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen , merger = Finnish Party, Young Finn ...
MPs, insisted that Soini's position was not the official position of the
Finnish Government sv, Finlands statsråd , border = , image = File:Finnish Government logo.png , image_size = 250 , caption = , date = , state = Republic of Finland , polity = , cou ...
, and that the right to abortion was a matter of human rights. *
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
's Foreign Minister
Margot Wallström Margot Elisabeth Wallström (; born 28 September 1954) is a Swedish politician of the Swedish Social Democratic Party who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden and Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2014 to 2019 and Minister for Nordic Coope ...
applauded the result of the referendum. *
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
's
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Emmanuel Macron tweeted that he welcomed the result.


Challenge to referendum result

The Provisional Referendum Certificate was signed by Barry Ryan, the Referendum Returning Officer, on 28 May 2018, and published in ''
Iris Oifigiúil ''Iris Oifigiúil'' (; "''Official Journal''") is the official gazette of the Government of Ireland. It replaced ''The Dublin Gazette'', the gazette of the Dublin Castle administration, on 31 January 1922. ''The Belfast Gazette'' was established ...
'' on 29 May. Challenges against the validity of the referendum must be brought within seven days of publication. Three petitions challenging the result were made within the deadline, by Joanna Jordan, Charles Byrne, and Ciarán Tracey. These alleged variously that the Referendum Commission information booklet was biased and that the electoral register was unreliable, with unexplained deletion of older voters' details and failure to delete those of emigrants who were thus able to travel back to vote despite being ineligible. Jordan's unsuccessful petition against the children's rights amendment delayed its enactment from 2012 until 2015. Enactment of the 2015 marriage equality amendment was similarly delayed for three months. The applications seeking leave to bring
judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...
proceedings were heard in the High Court from 26 to 29 June. Tracey withdrew and leave was refused for another man, Diarmaid McConville, to take over his application. On 20 July, Justice Peter Kelly ruled against the other two applicants, saying they had failed to provide '' prima facie'' evidence of anything likely to have changed the result of the vote,; ; but left them a week to challenge this in the Court of Appeal.
Costs In production, research, retail, and accounting, a cost is the value of money that has been used up to produce something or deliver a service, and hence is not available for use anymore. In business, the cost may be one of acquisition, in which ...
were awarded against both applicants. Byrne did not appeal, while Jordan's appeal was heard on 17 August. Separately, on 31 July, the Court of Appeal rejected McConville's appeal against the refusal to allow him to take over Tracey's petition application, but gave him time to apply to the Supreme Court, which on 16 August denied him leave to appeal. On 27 August, the Court of Appeal dismissed Jordan's challenge, with Justice
George Birmingham George Martin Birmingham (born 3 August 1954) is an Irish judge who has served as President of the Court of Appeal since April 2018 and a Judge of the Court of Appeal since October 2014. He previously served as a judge of the High Court from 2 ...
stating that "Jordan's assertions were so entirely devoid of substance that we can only conclude they were made with reckless and irresponsible abandon".; Before the 31 August deadline, Jordan applied to the Supreme Court for
leave to appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...
; the court decided on 7 September to refuse to hear the appeal, thus allowing the amendment to be signed into law by President Higgins on 18 September 2018.


Implementing legislation

Even though the referendum had been carried, abortion remained "illegal in almost all circumstances until the Oireachtas passes legislation providing otherwise", which the Government originally hoped to introduce into the Dáil in the autumn, and to have passed by the end of 2018. However, after the referendum, there were calls for the process to be sped up, and health minister Simon Harris said that the bill would be introduced before the summer recess and become law by the autumn. ''The Irish Times'' reported on 6 June that the Dáil second stage would begin on 11 July, possibly extending the Dáil term, and that remaining Oireachtas stages would be in September and October. The introduction of legislation was held up until after the processing of the petitions against the referendum result. Media had speculated before the vote that a narrow Yes majority would encourage No-supporting legislators to obstruct or weaken the legislative provisions compared to the draft published in March. Conversely, media said afterwards that the large majority made such moves unlikely; in particular, Fianna Fáil opponents would not "stand in the way" of the "will of the people". An updated general scheme of the
Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018 The Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 ( Act No. 31 of 2018; previously Bill No. 105 of 2018) is an Act of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) which defines the circumstances and processes within which abortion may be legally ...
was published by the Department of Health on 10 July. The final text was agreed by the cabinet at a meeting on 27 September and published the same day. Its
second reading A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature. In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming ...
in the Dáil was introduced by minister Simon Harris on 4 October. On 5 December, the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill passed final stages in the Dáil, where it was approved by 90 votes to 15 (with 12 abstentions). On 13 December,
Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann (, ; "Senate of Ireland") is the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house). It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its memb ...
approved the bill by 27 votes to 5. On 20 December 2018,
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Michael D. Higgins Michael Daniel Higgins ( ga, Mícheál Dónal Ó hUigínn; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, sociologist, and broadcaster, who has served as the ninth president of Ireland since November 2011. Entering national politics throug ...
signed the bill into law, officially legalising abortion in Ireland for the first time for non-life-threatening reasons.


Footnotes


References


External links

Official:
Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution Act 2018

Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2018
— Oireachtas site with links to text of bill and debates
Referendum Commission

Referendum Returning Officer Results Page
News:
Abortion Referendum
from ''
The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
''
Posts tagged with the Eighth Amendment
from ''
TheJournal.ie ''TheJournal.ie'' is an internet publication in Ireland. It was a mixture of original and aggregated content, before moving to entirely original content. The website was founded in early 2010. It was edited by Jennifer O'Connell in 2010–2011, ...
'' {{Irish elections 36 36 Abortion in the Republic of Ireland 36 36 Ireland, 36 Amendment, 36 36 May 2018 events in Ireland de:Referendum über die Abschaffung des Abtreibungsverbotes in Irland 2018 hu:2018-as írországi alkotmánymódosító népszavazás pl:Referendum w Irlandii w 2018 roku fi:Irlannin kansanäänestys aborttikiellon kumoamisesta 2018 zh-yue:2018年愛爾蘭憲法公投