Ireland overturns abortion ban in landslide vote

Dublin: Ireland voted by a landslide to ditch its strict abortion laws in a landmark referendum hailed by Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Saturday as a "quiet revolution", triggering scenes of jubilation in Dublin.

Final results showed more than 66 percent of voters in what has been a traditionally staunchly Catholic country backed repealing the constitutional ban on terminations.

Hugging, celebrating, singing and cheering wildly, thousands crammed into the courtyard of Dublin Castle, where the official result was declared, chanting "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"Wonderful, wonderful, today is wonderful!" said Eileen Shields, wearing a sticker reading "We made history".

She said she was ostracised by her friends and the Church when she got pregnant outside of marriage as a teenager 46 years ago.

"I'm here because I'm 65 and in 1972 Ireland wasn't a nice place to be when you were 18 and pregnant and on your own," she told AFP.

Wearing "Repeal" tops and "Yes" badges, the crowds celebrated as the verdict was announced, waving Irish flags and placards reading "Thank you", with love hearts on.

At Dublin's RDS count centre, 40-year-old nurse Ruth Bowie wept at the results.

She told AFP: "I had to leave my country to get the healthcare that I needed when I was told that my baby wouldn't survive outside the womb and I've told my story over and over again just in the hope that this day would come -- and it's finally come."    

The final results of Friday's referendum showed 66.4 percent voted for removing the constitutional ban, while 33.6 voted against.

The turnout was 64 percent.
Among the 40 constituencies, the pro-choice vote peaked at 78 percent in Dublin Bay South, while rural Donegal was the only one to vote against abortion, by 52 percent.

"A quiet revolution has taken place, a great act of democracy," Varadkar tweeted.

He told cheering crowds at Dublin Castle: "The people have spoken.

"They are saying this is a country where we trust women and respect their choices.

 "Thank you so much for making today possible."

His government proposes allowing abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and between 12 and 24 weeks in exceptional circumstances.

Varadkar said he wanted the law in force by the end of the year and Health Minister Simon Harris told AFP that the cabinet would meet on Tuesday to approve the drafting of legislation.
       
- Crumbling church influence -

The referendum comes three months before a visit to Ireland by Pope Francis for the World Meeting of Families.

The result is another hammer blow to the Roman Catholic Church's authority in Ireland, coming three years after referendum voters backed legalising same-sex marriage by 62 percent.

Roscommon-Galway, the only constituency to reject same-sex marriage, voted for change this time by 57 percent.

The Church's influence has crumbled in recent years, triggered by a series of child sex abuse scandals.

An exit poll for The Irish Times newspaper suggested 70 percent of women and 65 percent of men voted to overturn the ban.

People over 65 voted 60 percent against. However, all other age groups backed the proposal, with support at 87 percent among voters aged 18 to 24.

Ailbhe Smyth, 71, co-director of the official Together for Yes campaign, said real-life testimonies from women affected by the law had helped swing the vote.

"The stories, the experiences, women's voices, women's and couples, it was a central part of our strategy," she told reporters.

The Love Both official pro-life campaign said regardless of the result, "our work will continue to protect unborn babies and their mothers".

"Our campaign does not end with the referendum, but when the government properly supports the mother and child," it said.

Abortion is still banned in some 20 countries worldwide, while others have highly restrictive laws in place. In the European Union, predominantly Catholic Malta is the only country with a total ban.

170,000 terminations abroad
Ireland introduced a constitutional ban on abortion following a 1983 referendum. Terminating a pregnancy carries a 14-year maximum jail term.

The law was tweaked in 2013 to allow terminations if the mother's life is at risk.

The ban has led to thousands of women travelling each year to neighbouring Britain, where terminations are legal, or increasingly turning to abortion pills sold online.

Since 1983, around 170,000 Irish women have gone abroad for terminations.

"It's mad that there would have been people flying in to vote and a number of women in that airport waiting to leave to go and have an abortion," said art director Aoife Murray, 27, who said the referendum outcome left her in tears of relief.

In the UK, abortion is legal on the British mainland, but remains outlawed in Northern Ireland.

Sinn Fein's party leaders from both sides of the border held up a placard at Dublin Castle reading: "The North is next".