Ireland Abortion Referendum: Ballots are being cast on constitutional amendment

World
Europe

02:27

Voting is underway in Ireland's historic referendum on liberalizing the country's strict laws on abortion. People are voting on whether or not to scrap a 1983 amendment to the country's constitution, which underpins what is effectively a total ban on abortion. As Richard Bestic reports from Ireland's capital Dublin, the campaign has been bitterly divisive.

The referendum has gripped the people of Ireland, Irish expats flying home to vote from around the world.

"The least I can do is travel home when I'm in the financial circumstances that I can travel home, in order to give women a chance to freedom in their own country."

"My main motivation is that the government legislation will mean that healthy babies will be aborted in healthy mothers. It's a very, very broad piece of legislation that the government are proposing."

A hugely emotive issue, the referendum decides whether Ireland decriminalizes abortion.

It's also regarded by some as a barometer of Irish society, whether a fast-changing Ireland is moving on from its conservative Roman Catholic roots towards a new liberalism.

Following a spate of scandals, the Catholic Church has been largely quiet on what is one of Ireland's great moral debates.

While opinion polls have narrowed, voters in the cities are expected to say Yes to a repeal of the eighth amendment.

"I'm hoping that a 'Yes' vote will pass today, I think it's a very upsetting, divisive issue but I think it's the right thing for the women of Ireland - care, compassion, dignity and safety. Equal healthcare is why I'm voting 'Yes'."

"I'm hoping for a 'Yes', for all the future of our young girls in this country, that's what I'm hoping for, and I'm actually confident it will be a 'Yes'."

The campaign for a Yes to reform has heavyweight backing in the from the government, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar saying the referendum is a once in a generation decision.

LEO VARADKAR IRISH PRIME MINISTER "I always get a little buzz from voting. It just feels like it's democracy in action. Not taking anything for granted, of course, but quietly confident, there's been a good turn out so far across the country. I just hope it'll be the 'Yes' vote."

Opinion polls ahead of this fiercely debated referendum do lean towards a Yes to reform, but the undecided vote is big, up to 20 percent and the outcome could be tight. Rb, CGTN, DUBLIN.