Ireland's vote on abortion reveals deep divides
The referendum removing a restrictive consitutional clause was seen a gain for women’s empowerment—and another step toward social liberalization in Catholic Ireland.
(The Christian Science Monitor) When Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar announced a referendum that would relax one of the most restrictive regimes for abortion in Europe, his nod to women’s rights was clear.
“I believe this is a decision about whether we want to continue to stigmatize and criminalize our sisters, our co-workers, and our friends,” he said in January. “Or whether we are prepared to make a collective act of leadership to show empathy and compassion.”
The referendum, which passed with 66.4 percent of those voting, was seen as another gain for women’s empowerment as well as the next step in a long process of social liberalization in Catholic Ireland. Varadkar himself is Ireland’s first—and one of the world’s few—openly gay heads of government. He came out as the country legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, the first country in the world to do so by popular vote.
