The results will have an important impact on Northern Ireland. But the referendum, taking place throughout Friday, is only for citizens of the Republic of Ireland. The UK 1967 Abortion Act, which established legal abortion, was never applied in Northern Ireland. In England, Scotland and Wales, an abortion can be legally carried out up to the 24-week limit. Northern Irish law states abortions can only be carried out in extreme circumstances - fatal foetal abnormalities, rape and incest are not considered circumstances in which abortions can be performed legally.

There were 16 reported legal abortions in Northern Ireland last year, while thousands of women travel to other parts of the UK for legal terminations each year. If the result of the Irish Republic’s abortion referendum is to repeal the Eighth Amendment, it could be a force for change to the Northern Irish law. What is the Eighth Amendment? The Eighth Amendment clause was written into the constitution after a 1983 referendum which sought to recognise the right to life of an unborn child. Essentially, it protects the equal right to life of the mother and the unborn child and prohibits abortion in almost all cases.

The amendment reads: “The state acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.” In 1992, it was written into legislation what women could travel abroad to seek terminations. Since then, women have travelled in their droves to Britain for abortions. The upcoming referendum has led to both sides fighting a fierce campaign. The ‘Vote yes’ group Together for Yes is the umbrella group campaigning to repeal the Eighth, and have youth and social media support. The ‘Vote no’ groups LoveBoth and Save the Eighth is in favour of keeping the amendment and is receiving most of its support from the Catholic community.</s>Garda Alan Gallagher and Presiding Officer Carmel McBride carry a polling box, used, a day early, by the few people that live off the coast of Donegal on the island of Inishbofin on May 24, 2018 in Donegal, Ireland.

DUBLIN — Prime Minister Leo Varadkar urged people voting in Ireland's abortion referendum to remove the country's "legacy of shame" over the way it has treated women by overturning an abortion ban that has fiercely divided this Catholic nation.

"If we don't remove the (Eighth) Amendment from the constitution our doctors and lawmakers can't do anything for women. They can't do anything for women who have been raped, who are children themselves or who have been given the heartbreaking news of fatal fetal abnormality," Varadkar said Friday, as voting stations opened across Ireland in what is expected to be an extremely close contest over a highly emotive issue. "If the referendum doesn't pass these women will continue to have to travel abroad in their thousands," Varadkar said.

Voting finishes at 10 p.m. (5 p.m. ET) and the result is expected Saturday afternoon.

Abortion is only allowed in Ireland if a women's life is at risk. A "Yes" vote to repeal the Eighth Amendment, which states that a fetus has an equal right to life as the woman, would mean that Irish women would be able to get an abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. It would be a controversial step for a country where almost 80% of the population still identify themselves as Catholic even though the church's reputation has been severely dented in recent decades by a series of abuse and sex scandals.

An average of nine women travel every day from Ireland to the United Kingdom, where abortion is legal, to terminate pregnancies, according to the Irish government. Three women each day take abortion pills bought online, risking a 14-year jail sentence.

More: Both sides in Irish landmark abortion vote make final pleas to voters

More: Ireland to be tested by abortion vote on whether to overturn near-total ban

"Today is an international missing children's day. In the U.K., 8 million children have gone missing since the abortion law was introduced. I hope Ireland will not make the same mistake today," John McGuirk, a prominent Irish abortion rights opponent, said.

Save The 8th, an organization that opposes abortion, sent an email Friday to supporters, media and any undecided voters.

"Abortion does one thing, and one thing only — it kills a baby," it said.

If the vote passes it would be another social-change milestone for Ireland after it legalized contraception (1979), divorce (1995) and same-sex marriage (2015).

It would also leave just three places in Europe where abortion is illegal unless a woman’s life is at risk: the micro-states of Andorra and San Marino, and Malta.

In the USA, President Trump plans to cut funding to family-planning clinics that offer abortion services. He has also vowed to appoint enough Supreme Court justices who oppose abortion to overturn Roe v. Wade, the abortion rights decision from 1973.</s>A woman carries a baby in a cot as goes to cast her vote at a polling station in the referendum on the 8th Amendment of the Irish Constitution, in Dublin, Friday, May 25, 2018. (Niall Carson/PA via AP)

Voters throughout Ireland have begun casting votes in a referendum that may lead to a loosening of the country’s strict ban on most abortions.

Ireland’s referendum Friday represented more than a vote on whether to end the country’s strict abortion ban. It was a battle for the very soul of a traditionally conservative Roman Catholic country that has seen a wave of liberalization in recent years.

The country’s leaders support a “yes,” an outcome that would repeal a 1983 constitutional amendment requiring authorities to treat a fetus and its mother as equals under the law. They say it’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity to liberalize abortion rules.

It’s also a key indicator of Ireland’s trajectory, three years after the country voted to allow same-sex marriages and a year after it elected a gay prime minister.

Theresa Sweeney, a repeal supporter, was one of the first people to arrive at the North Grand Church polling station in Dublin.

“I’m not usually an early riser, but I couldn’t wait to get down here to vote,” she said. “I feel like I’ve waited all of my adult life to have a say on this.”

Vera Rooney cast her ballot at the same polling place.

“It is a hard decision but I just feel I don’t have the right to take life,” she said. “I think life is sacred and for that reason I had to vote no.”

The referendum will decide whether the eighth amendment of the constitution is repealed or stays in place.

Related: ‘Reprehensible’: Trudeau abortion policy raises ire of U.S. right

The amendment requires authorities to equally protect the right to life of a mother and that of a fetus, from the moment of conception. Abortion in largely Catholic Ireland is illegal except in cases when the woman’s life is in danger, and several thousand Irish women travel each year to get abortions in neighbouring Britain.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, a doctor, voted in favour of repeal Friday morning at Laurel Lodge in Castleknock.

“Not taking anything for granted of course, but quietly confident,” he said, adding. “A high turnout I think would be to the advantage to the ‘yes’ campaign, and obviously the upside of a good sunny day in Ireland is that people come out to vote.”

Results are not expected until Saturday afternoon or evening. Voting has already taken place on islands so that paper ballots can be taken to the mainland and counted in time.

Letters to the editor published Friday in the Irish Independent newspaper contained emotional arguments urging voters to reject the repeal movement.

“If we vote ‘yes’, every unborn, wanted and unwanted, will have zero rights,” wrote Frances Kelleher, from Killarney. “I do not believe the smart people of Ireland want this unrestricted, abortion-on-demand bill. I will be voting no.”

If citizens vote in favour of repeal, new abortion laws will then be discussed in parliament. The government proposes that terminations be allowed during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Later abortions would be allowed in special cases.

Related: Alberta set to introduce bill for no-go zones around abortion clinics

Gregory Katz And Renata Brito, The Associated Press

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.</s>The Latest on the Irish abortion referendum (all times local):

Ireland's Minister for Children and Youth Affairs says she is grateful and emotional over with the apparent decision of voters to repeal the constitutional ban on abortions in Friday's landmark referendum.

Katherine Zappone said Saturday she is confident new abortion legislation can be approved by parliament and put in place before the end of the year.

"I feel very emotional," she said. "I'm especially grateful to the women of Ireland who came forward to provide their personal testimony about the hard times that they endured,?the stress and the trauma that they experienced because of the eighth amendment."

The eighth amendment requires authorities to treat a fetus and its mother as equals under the law, effectively banning abortions. Currently, terminations are only allowed when a woman's life is at risk.

Exit polls predict overwhelming support for the repeal of the constitutional ban. Officials results are expected Saturday afternoon.

One of Ireland's leading anti-abortion groups says the abortion referendum result is a "tragedy of historic proportions" in a statement that all but admits defeat in the historic vote.

Spokesman John McGuirk of the Save the 8th?group — which refers to the Eighth Amendment in the constitution that bans abortions — told Irish television Saturday that many Irish citizens will not recognize the country they are waking up in.

The official vote tally for Friday's vote has not been finished but exit polls predict a massive victory for repealing the constitutional ban.

McGuirk said it will now be relatively easy for the government to pass more liberal abortion laws in the parliament.

"There is no prospect of the legislation not being passed," he says.

The government proposes that women be allowed to terminate pregnancies in the first 12 weeks.

Official counting is set to begin in Ireland's historic abortion rights referendum, with two exit polls predicting an overwhelming victory for those seeking to end the country's strict ban.

The Irish Times and RTE television exit polls suggest the Irish people have voted to repeal a 1983 constitutional amendment that effectively bans abortions. Currently, terminations are only allowed when a woman's life is at risk.

The exit polls are predictions only, with official results expected Saturday afternoon. Paper ballots must be counted and tallied.

If the "yes" forces seeking a constitutional change prevail as the polls suggest, Ireland's parliament will be charged with coming up with new abortion laws.

The government proposes to allow abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy with later terminations allowed in some cases.</s>DUBLIN — Ireland's referendum Friday represented more than a vote on whether to end the country's strict abortion ban. It was a battle for the very soul of a traditionally conservative Roman Catholic country that has seen a wave of liberalization in recent years.

The country's leaders support a "yes," an outcome that would repeal a 1983 constitutional amendment requiring authorities to treat a fetus and its mother as equals under the law. They say it's a once-in-a-generation opportunity to liberalize abortion rules.

It's also a key indicator of Ireland's trajectory, three years after the country voted to allow same-sex marriages and a year after it elected a gay prime minister.

Theresa Sweeney, a repeal supporter, was one of the first people to arrive at the North Grand Church polling station in Dublin.

"I'm not usually an early riser, but I couldn't wait to get down here to vote," she said. "I feel like I've waited all of my adult life to have a say on this."

Vera Rooney cast her ballot at the same polling place.

"It is a hard decision but I just feel I don't have the right to take life," she said. "I think life is sacred and for that reason I had to vote no."

The referendum will decide whether the eighth amendment of the constitution is repealed or stays in place.

The amendment requires authorities to equally protect the right to life of a mother and that of a fetus, from the moment of conception. Abortion in largely Catholic Ireland is illegal except in cases when the woman's life is in danger, and several thousand Irish women travel each year to get abortions in neighbouring Britain.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, a doctor, voted in favour of repeal Friday morning at Laurel Lodge in Castleknock.</s>Garda Alan Gallagher and Presiding Officer Carmel McBride carry a polling box, used, a day early, by the few people that live off the coast of Donegal on the island of Inishbofin on May 24, 2018 in Donegal, Ireland.

DUBLIN — Prime Minister Leo Varadkar urged people voting in Ireland's abortion referendum to remove the country's "legacy of shame" over the way it has treated women by overturning an abortion ban that has fiercely divided this Catholic nation.

"If we don't remove the (Eighth) Amendment from the constitution our doctors and lawmakers can't do anything for women. They can't do anything for women who have been raped, who are children themselves or who have been given the heartbreaking news of fatal fetal abnormality," Varadkar said Friday, as voting stations opened across Ireland in what is expected to be an extremely close contest over a highly emotive issue. "If the referendum doesn't pass these women will continue to have to travel abroad in their thousands," Varadkar said.

Voting finishes at 10 p.m. (5 p.m. ET) and the result is expected Saturday afternoon.

Abortion is only allowed in Ireland if a women's life is at risk. A "Yes" vote to repeal the Eighth Amendment, which states that a fetus has an equal right to life as the woman, would mean that Irish women would be able to get an abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. It would be a controversial step for a country where almost 80% of the population still identify themselves as Catholic even though the church's reputation has been severely dented in recent decades by a series of abuse and sex scandals.

An average of nine women travel every day from Ireland to the United Kingdom, where abortion is legal, to terminate pregnancies, according to the Irish government. Three women each day take abortion pills bought online, risking a 14-year jail sentence.

More: Both sides in Irish landmark abortion vote make final pleas to voters

More: Ireland to be tested by abortion vote on whether to overturn near-total ban

"Today is an international missing children's day. In the U.K., 8 million children have gone missing since the abortion law was introduced. I hope Ireland will not make the same mistake today," John McGuirk, a prominent Irish abortion rights opponent, said.

Save The 8th, an organization that opposes abortion, sent an email Friday to supporters, media and any undecided voters.

"Abortion does one thing, and one thing only — it kills a baby," it said.

If the vote passes it would be another social-change milestone for Ireland after it legalized contraception (1979), divorce (1995) and same-sex marriage (2015).

It would also leave just three places in Europe where abortion is illegal unless a woman’s life is at risk: the micro-states of Andorra and San Marino, and Malta.

In the USA, President Trump plans to cut funding to family-planning clinics that offer abortion services. He has also vowed to appoint enough Supreme Court justices who oppose abortion to overturn Roe v. Wade, the abortion rights decision from 1973.</s>A member of the public holds a sign in favor of abortion rights in Dublin, on May 25, 2018.

DUBLIN — Irish voters overwhelmingly backed a repeal of Ireland's constitutional ban on abortion in a sweeping cultural change representing a move away from the nation's conservative Catholic roots.

The final tally showed that 66.4% supported the repeal out of 2.1 million votes cast on Friday according to election official Barry Ryan.

Donegal was the only county to vote "no," with 51.9% voting against the repeal and 48.1% in favor.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar called the result the culmination of a “quiet revolution.”

“The people have spoken,” said Varadkar, a medical doctor who campaigned for repeal in the historic referendum. “The people have said that we want a modern constitution for a modern country, that we trust women and we respect them to make the right decision and the right choices about their health care.”

As a result of the vote, Ireland's government will now seek to pass legislation that allows abortions during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The current law prohibits all abortions in Ireland, except in cases when the woman’s life is at risk, and having an illegal abortion is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

For thousands of Irish women, the repeal will end their need to travel abroad – mostly to neighboring Britain – for abortions.

Supporters of the repeal were jubilant, particularly at Dublin’s Intercontinental hotel, where the Together For Yes group,buoyed by exit polls, was celebrating its apparent victory.

“This is a monumental day for women in Ireland,” said Orla O’Connor, co-director of the Together for Yes group. “This is about women taking their rightful place in Irish society, finally.”

The vote is a “rejection of an Ireland that treated women as second-class citizens,” she said, adding: “This is about women’s equality and this day brings massive change, monumental change for women in Ireland, and there is no going back.”

More than 1,000 people gathered outside Dublin Castle, singing, chanting, and toasting one another with champagne as they waited for the official announcement.

John McGuirk, spokesman for the Save the 8th group, told Irish television Saturday that many Irish citizens will not recognize the country they are waking up in. The group said on its website that Irish voters have created a “tragedy of historic proportions,” but McGuirk said the vote must be respected.

“You can still passionately believe that the decision of the people is wrong, as I happen to do, and accept it,” he said.

More: Abortion ban vote chance to throw off oppressing legacy of Catholic Ireland

Related: Ireland to be tested by abortion vote on whether to overturn near-total ban

John Aidan Byrne, 58, an Irishman who has lived in the United States for more than 30 years and runs a group called Irish Pro-Life USA, said that doing away with the ban would mean "fewer protections" for his friends and family in Ireland.

"Once you introduce legalized abortion it changes the entire dynamic of society. And it divides it politically, socially and — let's be frank — spiritually," he said.

But others viewed the vote as evidence that Ireland, for years held back by traditional voices in the church, was embracing tolerance and progressiveness as well as continuing down a path of liberalization after national votes in recent years that ushered in legalizing contraception, divorce, homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

"We woke up this morning to a new Ireland. Ireland’s changed," said Deidre Duffy, one the organizers of the campaign to change Ireland's abortion law.

"One by one, the manacles imposed by clerical control and society's deference to it have been removed, and Ireland has altered beyond recognition," said Martina Devlin in a column for the Irish Independent newspaper Saturday.

Lawyer Anna McCarthy, 35, was standing near a Dublin mural on Saturday of Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old Indian dentist who died in Galway in 2012 due to blood poisoning resulting from a miscarriage after she was denied an abortion.

"This is something to be celebrated," McCarthy said.

"Finally, we're not shaming women, we're not punishing them, or judging them — we're just going to have a law that supports people in crisis. This is a win for everybody."

Messages of condolence were affixed to a wall next to the image of Halappanavar.

"This should NEVER have happened to you," read one. "Our babies were only six weeks apart, you inspired me and the whole nation to say NEVER AGAIN."

Repealing Ireland's Eighth Amendment that gives equal protection to a fetus and the woman would bring the once-staunchly Catholic country in line with abortion practices in the United States and the majority of Europe.

It would leave only three places in Europe where abortion is illegal unless the woman's life is at risk: tiny Andorra and San Marino, and Malta. Four countries around the world do not allow abortions under any circumstances, according to the Pew Research Center. They are the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Vatican City.

"It’s a very emotional day," said Simon Harris, Ireland’s minister for health, speaking to media at Dublin Castle, where the results of the vote will be announced.

More: World watches as Ireland holds historic vote to overturn strict abortion law

"Over the last 20-30 years the idea of Ireland as a Catholic country has been changing," said Mary McAuliffe, a gender studies expert at University College Dublin.

"We're no longer an isolated country on the edge of Europe hidebound by outdated ideas about morality, femininity and controlling women's bodies," she said.</s>DUBLIN — Ireland's referendum Friday represented more than a vote on whether to end the country's strict abortion ban. It was a battle for the very soul of a traditionally conservative Roman Catholic country that has seen a wave of liberalization in recent years.

The country's leaders support a "yes," an outcome that would repeal a 1983 constitutional amendment requiring authorities to treat a fetus and its mother as equals under the law. They say it's a once-in-a-generation opportunity to liberalize abortion rules.

It's also a key indicator of Ireland's trajectory, three years after the country voted to allow same-sex marriages and a year after it elected a gay prime minister.

Theresa Sweeney, a repeal supporter, was one of the first people to arrive at the North Grand Church polling station in Dublin.

"I'm not usually an early riser, but I couldn't wait to get down here to vote," she said. "I feel like I've waited all of my adult life to have a say on this."

Vera Rooney cast her ballot at the same polling place.

"It is a hard decision but I just feel I don't have the right to take life," she said. "I think life is sacred and for that reason I had to vote no."

The referendum will decide whether the eighth amendment of the constitution is repealed or stays in place.

The amendment requires authorities to equally protect the right to life of a mother and that of a fetus, from the moment of conception. Abortion in largely Catholic Ireland is illegal except in cases when the woman's life is in danger, and several thousand Irish women travel each year to get abortions in neighbouring Britain.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, a doctor, voted in favour of repeal Friday morning at Laurel Lodge in Castleknock.</s>A woman carries a baby in a cot as goes to cast her vote at a polling station in the referendum on the 8th Amendment of the Irish Constitution, in Dublin, Friday, May 25, 2018. (Niall Carson/PA via AP)

Voters throughout Ireland have begun casting votes in a referendum that may lead to a loosening of the country’s strict ban on most abortions.

Ireland’s referendum Friday represented more than a vote on whether to end the country’s strict abortion ban. It was a battle for the very soul of a traditionally conservative Roman Catholic country that has seen a wave of liberalization in recent years.

The country’s leaders support a “yes,” an outcome that would repeal a 1983 constitutional amendment requiring authorities to treat a fetus and its mother as equals under the law. They say it’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity to liberalize abortion rules.

It’s also a key indicator of Ireland’s trajectory, three years after the country voted to allow same-sex marriages and a year after it elected a gay prime minister.

Theresa Sweeney, a repeal supporter, was one of the first people to arrive at the North Grand Church polling station in Dublin.

“I’m not usually an early riser, but I couldn’t wait to get down here to vote,” she said. “I feel like I’ve waited all of my adult life to have a say on this.”

Vera Rooney cast her ballot at the same polling place.

“It is a hard decision but I just feel I don’t have the right to take life,” she said. “I think life is sacred and for that reason I had to vote no.”

The referendum will decide whether the eighth amendment of the constitution is repealed or stays in place.

Related: ‘Reprehensible’: Trudeau abortion policy raises ire of U.S. right

The amendment requires authorities to equally protect the right to life of a mother and that of a fetus, from the moment of conception. Abortion in largely Catholic Ireland is illegal except in cases when the woman’s life is in danger, and several thousand Irish women travel each year to get abortions in neighbouring Britain.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, a doctor, voted in favour of repeal Friday morning at Laurel Lodge in Castleknock.

“Not taking anything for granted of course, but quietly confident,” he said, adding. “A high turnout I think would be to the advantage to the ‘yes’ campaign, and obviously the upside of a good sunny day in Ireland is that people come out to vote.”

Results are not expected until Saturday afternoon or evening. Voting has already taken place on islands so that paper ballots can be taken to the mainland and counted in time.

Letters to the editor published Friday in the Irish Independent newspaper contained emotional arguments urging voters to reject the repeal movement.

“If we vote ‘yes’, every unborn, wanted and unwanted, will have zero rights,” wrote Frances Kelleher, from Killarney. “I do not believe the smart people of Ireland want this unrestricted, abortion-on-demand bill. I will be voting no.”

If citizens vote in favour of repeal, new abortion laws will then be discussed in parliament. The government proposes that terminations be allowed during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Later abortions would be allowed in special cases.

Related: Alberta set to introduce bill for no-go zones around abortion clinics

Gregory Katz And Renata Brito, The Associated Press

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.</s>A woman carries a baby in a cot as goes to cast her vote at a polling station in the referendum on the 8th Amendment of the Irish Constitution, in Dublin, Friday, May 25, 2018. (Niall Carson/PA via AP)

Voters throughout Ireland have begun casting votes in a referendum that may lead to a loosening of the country’s strict ban on most abortions.

Ireland’s referendum Friday represented more than a vote on whether to end the country’s strict abortion ban. It was a battle for the very soul of a traditionally conservative Roman Catholic country that has seen a wave of liberalization in recent years.

The country’s leaders support a “yes,” an outcome that would repeal a 1983 constitutional amendment requiring authorities to treat a fetus and its mother as equals under the law. They say it’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity to liberalize abortion rules.

It’s also a key indicator of Ireland’s trajectory, three years after the country voted to allow same-sex marriages and a year after it elected a gay prime minister.

Theresa Sweeney, a repeal supporter, was one of the first people to arrive at the North Grand Church polling station in Dublin.

“I’m not usually an early riser, but I couldn’t wait to get down here to vote,” she said. “I feel like I’ve waited all of my adult life to have a say on this.”

Vera Rooney cast her ballot at the same polling place.

“It is a hard decision but I just feel I don’t have the right to take life,” she said. “I think life is sacred and for that reason I had to vote no.”

The referendum will decide whether the eighth amendment of the constitution is repealed or stays in place.

Related: ‘Reprehensible’: Trudeau abortion policy raises ire of U.S. right

The amendment requires authorities to equally protect the right to life of a mother and that of a fetus, from the moment of conception. Abortion in largely Catholic Ireland is illegal except in cases when the woman’s life is in danger, and several thousand Irish women travel each year to get abortions in neighbouring Britain.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, a doctor, voted in favour of repeal Friday morning at Laurel Lodge in Castleknock.

“Not taking anything for granted of course, but quietly confident,” he said, adding. “A high turnout I think would be to the advantage to the ‘yes’ campaign, and obviously the upside of a good sunny day in Ireland is that people come out to vote.”

Results are not expected until Saturday afternoon or evening. Voting has already taken place on islands so that paper ballots can be taken to the mainland and counted in time.

Letters to the editor published Friday in the Irish Independent newspaper contained emotional arguments urging voters to reject the repeal movement.

“If we vote ‘yes’, every unborn, wanted and unwanted, will have zero rights,” wrote Frances Kelleher, from Killarney. “I do not believe the smart people of Ireland want this unrestricted, abortion-on-demand bill. I will be voting no.”

If citizens vote in favour of repeal, new abortion laws will then be discussed in parliament. The government proposes that terminations be allowed during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Later abortions would be allowed in special cases.

Related: Alberta set to introduce bill for no-go zones around abortion clinics

Gregory Katz And Renata Brito, The Associated Press

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Irish citizens vote in a referendum on the proposed Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2018 to repeal the 1983 Eighth Amendment constitutional ban on abortion by 66.4% to 33.6%.