Ireland votes to overturn abortion ban in referendum

The Irish public have voted overwhelmingly in favour of abortion law reform in a referendum. The final result was 66.4% in favour and 33.6% against reform. At the present time in Ireland the Eighth Amendment grants an equal right to life to the mother and unborn and abortion is only allowed when a woman's life is at risk. The referendum has now given the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland) a strong mandate to introduce the legislation to repeal the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. The Government has proposed legislating to allow unrestricted termination of pregnancy up to 12 weeks.