Ireland ends abortion ban
Exit polls see almost 70pc backing change in historic referendum; legislation to be enacted by year-end
Ireland has voted by a landslide to liberalise some of the world's most restrictive abortion laws in what its prime minister described as the culmination of a "quiet revolution" in what was one of Europe's most socially conservative countries.
Voters in the once deeply Catholic nation were estimated to have backed the change by more than two-to-one, according to two exit polls released on Friday evening, and the government plans to bring in legislation by the end of the year.
"It's incredible. For all the years and years and years we've been trying to look after women and not been able to look after women, this means everything," said Mary Higgins, obstetrician and Together For Yes campaigner.
After official results began to be announced yesterday, politicians on both sides agreed that the referendum had passed by a large margin. Final results were due later yesterday.
"The public have spoken. The result appears to be resounding ... in favour of repealing the 8th Amendment" constitutional ban on abortion, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who campaigned for repeal, told journalists in Dublin.
"What we see is the culmination of a quiet revolution that has been taking place in Ireland over the last couple of decades," said Varadkar, who became the country's first openly gay prime minister last year.
If confirmed, the outcome will be the latest milestone on a path of change for a country which only legalised divorce by a razor thin majority in 1995 before becoming the first in the world to adopt gay marriage by popular vote three years ago.