DUBLIN: The rival sides in Ireland’s decades-old battle over abortion made their final pitches to voters on Thursday, the eve of a referendum on liberalising one of the world’s strictest bans on terminations.
Voters in the once deeply Catholic nation will be asked on Friday if they wish to scrap a prohibition that was enshrined in the constitution by referendum 35 year ago, then partly lifted five years ago for cases where the mother’s life is in danger.
Opinion polls have put those who favor changing the law in the lead. The two most recent surveys on Sunday showed the “Yes” side pulling slightly further ahead.
“This is a once-in-a-generation decision for the Irish people,” Prime Minister Leo Varadkar told reporters.
“It is an opportunity for us to change our country. If there is a ‘Yes’ vote, Ireland will still be the same place, just a place that is a little bit more compassionate, a little kinder and a little more understanding than it has been.”
“Yes” campaigners are urging voters to repeal the eighth amendment of the constitution, which equates the right to life of the mother with her unborn child’s.
They argue that with over 3,000 women traveling to Britain each year for terminations and others ordering pills illegally online, abortion is already a reality in Ireland.
The “No” camp has seized on government plans to allow terminations with no restriction up to 12 weeks into a pregnancy if the referendum is carried, although that is not on the ballot paper.
They have suggested in recent days that if the referendum is defeated, the constitution could instead be amended again to allow for abortions in “hard” cases such as rape, incest and fatal foetal abnormality.
Varadkar and others say this is impossible — citing advice from Ireland’s Attorney General — and have accused their opponents of trying to dupe voters.
“If we ... vote ‘No’, no doubt this will come back in a year or two and then we can look at the hard cases, but not a carte blanche free-for-all for up to 12 weeks,” said Mattie McGrath, an independent lawmaker and prominent anti-abortion campaigner.
“If ‘No’ carries, the people will have spoken.”
Most polls will open at 0600 GMT on Friday, although voting was already under way on Thursday on remote west coast islands.
Some expatriate Irish were flying home from as far away as Bangkok, Los Angeles and Sydney to cast their ballots in a country that does not allow those abroad to vote via post or in embassies.
Those away for less than 18 months remain eligible to vote at their former local polling station.
The hashtag #hometovote was one of the top trending issues on Twitter on Wednesday, as it was three years ago when Ireland became the first country in the world to adopt gay marriage by popular vote.
Online comments suggested most of those heading home planned to vote “Yes.” Many posted photos of themselves wearing sweatshirts bearing the “Yes” side’s “Repeal” slogan.
“For me, I felt a moral obligation to come back,” said Ciaran Gaffney, 22, who forked out nearly 1,000 euros to return to the southwestern city of Limerick from Buenos Aires and bumped into four other returning voters on his flight home.
“As soon as the referendum was called, I just booked the flights there and then. My generation, my peers, are the ones who are going to be affected. I’m extremely excited to go into the polling booth and put that ‘X’ into the Ta (Yes) box.”
Campaigners make final pitches on eve of Ireland’s abortion referendum
Campaigners make final pitches on eve of Ireland’s abortion referendum
- Prime Minister Leo Varadkar: “If there is a ‘Yes’ vote, Ireland will still be the same place, just a place that is a little bit more compassionate, a little kinder and a little more understanding than it has been.”
- Some expatriate Irish were flying home from as far away as Bangkok, Los Angeles and Sydney to cast their ballots in a country that does not allow those abroad to vote via post or in embassies.
Supporters of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado march in cities worldwide
- Machado went into hiding and has not been seen in public since January
CARACAS: Supporters of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado demonstrated Saturday in several cities worldwide to commemorate her Nobel Peace Prize win ahead of the prestigious award ceremony next week.
Dozens of people marched through Madrid, Utrecht, Buenos Aires, Lima and other cities in support of Machado, whose organization wants to use the attention gained by the award to highlight Venezuela’s democratic aspirations. The organization expected demonstrations in more than 80 cities around the world on Saturday.
The crowd in Lima carried portraits of Machado and demanded a “Free Venezuela.” With the country’s yellow, blue and red flag draped over their backs or emblazoned on their caps, demonstrators clutched posters that read, “The Nobel Prize is from Venezuela.”
Venezuelan Verónica Durán, who has lived in Lima for eight years, said Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize is celebrated because “it represents all Venezuelans, the fallen and the political prisoners in their fight to recover democracy.”
The gatherings come at a critical point in the country’s protracted crisis as the administration of US President Donald Trump builds up a massive military deployment in the Caribbean, threatening repeatedly to strike Venezuelan soil. Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro is among those who see the operation as an effort to end his hold on power, and the opposition has only added to this perception by reigniting its promise to soon govern the country.
“We are living through times where our composure, our conviction, and our organization are being tested,” Machado said in a video message shared Tuesday on social media. “Times when our country needs even more dedication because now all these years of struggle, the dignity of the Venezuelan people, have been recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize.”
Machado won the award Oct. 10 for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in the South American nation, winning recognition as a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.”
Machado, 58, won the opposition’s primary election and intended to run against Maduro in last year’s presidential election, but the government barred her from running for office. Retired diplomat Edmundo González, who had never run for office before, took her place.
The lead-up to the July 28, 2024, election saw widespread repression, including disqualifications, arrests and human rights violations. It all increased after the country’s National Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared him the winner despite credible evidence to the contrary.
González sought asylum in Spain last year after a Venezuelan court issued a warrant for his arrest.
Meanwhile, Machado went into hiding and has not been seen in public since Jan. 9, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters in what ended up being an underwhelming protest in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital. The following day, Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term.
