People cast ballots in Ireland’s referendum on whether or not to liberalize the country’s abortion laws. (The Associated Press)

Voters asked whether to keep or repeal Eighth Amendment to Roman Catholic Ireland’s Constitution

Abortion rights activists proclaimed victory for Irish women Saturday as referendum results indicated voters in largely Roman Catholic Ireland overwhelmingly backed repealing a 1983 constitutional ban on abortions.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, speaking Saturday after exit polls suggested voters chose to liberalize Ireland’s strict abortion laws by a margin of more than two to one, called the result the culmination of a “quiet revolution.”

“The people have spoken,” said Varadkar, a medical doctor who campaigned for repeal in Friday’s 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.”

Varadkar said the large margin of victory will give his government a greater mandate when drafting abortion legislation that will be submitted for parliamentary approval in a matter of months.

Voters were asked whether they wanted to keep or repeal the Eighth Amendment to Ireland’s Constitution, which requires authorities to treat a fetus and its mother as equals under the law. It outlawed all abortions until 2014, when the procedure started being allowed in rare cases when a woman’s life was in danger.

Campaigners who have fought for more than three decades to remove the Eighth Amendment abortion ban from Ireland’s Constitution hailed the referendum vote as a major breakthrough for the largely Catholic nation.

READ MORE: Trudeau abortion policy raises ire of U.S. right

“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.”

If the partial results hold up, the referendum would likely end the need for thousands of Irish women to travel abroad — mostly to neighbouring Britain — for abortions they can’t get at home.

Opponents of the repeal movement have conceded they have no chance of victory.

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.

Official counting for Friday’s referendum on whether or not to liberalize Ireland’s abortion laws was still underway, and final results were not expected until later Saturday. More than half of the country’s 40 regions had been counted by 4:00 p.m. and showed 68 per cent supporting the amendment’s repeal.

Exit polls from the Irish Times and broadcaster RTE suggested the Irish people have voted by nearly 70 per cent to repeal the Eighth Amendment.

It indicated that about 72 per cent of women voted “yes” along with about 66 per cent of men. The strongest backing came from younger voters — the exit poll said the only age group in which a majority voted “no” were voters who are 65 or older. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.6 per cent.

The magnitude of the predicted victory exceeded the expectations of abortion rights activists. Surprisingly, they also suggest that supporters of more liberal abortion laws may have triumphed throughout the country, not just in the cosmopolitan capital, Dublin, where a strong youth vote had been anticipated.

Ireland’s parliament will be charged with coming up with new abortion laws in the coming months. The government proposes to allow abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, with later terminations allowed in some cases.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.</s>DUBLIN — Irish voters overwhelmingly backed repealing a decades-old constitutional ban on abortion, according to two exit polls, paving the way for sweeping cultural change and a move away from the nation's conservative Catholic roots.

The exits polls by state broadcaster RTE television and the Irish Times newspaper indicated approximately two-thirds of voters supported overturning one of the strictest abortion laws in the world. One-third opposed it.

Official results are due later Saturday.

If the exit polls are confirmed by the vote count, Ireland's government will seek to pass legislation that allows terminations 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.

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

A member of the public holds a sign in favor of abortion rights in Dublin, on May 25, 2018.

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 the rest of Europe.

It would leave just 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.

While Ireland's center-right Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who campaigned to repeal the Eighth Amendment, stopped short of claiming victory late Friday based on the exit polls, he appeared confident. "It’s looking like we will make history," he tweeted.

The projected result drew reaction from abortion rights activists and opponents.

"Abortion on demand would deal Ireland a tragic blow but the pro-life movement will rise to any challenge it faces," said Cora Sherlock, an abortion rights opponent.

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 ahead of the result 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 likely result 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," Deidre Duffy, one the organizers of the campaign to change Ireland's abortion law, said.

"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 commentator Martina Devlin, writing in a column for the Irish Independent newspaper Saturday.

More: World watches as Ireland holds historic vote to overturn strict abortion law</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 Friday in Ireland's abortion referendum to remove the country's "legacy of shame" toward women by overturning the strict abortion law that fiercely divides 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.

The vote was expected to be an extremely close contest, with polls closing at 10 p.m. local time (5 p.m. ET). The result of the highly controversial issue is expected Saturday afternoon.

But the Irish Times predicted that voters, 68% to 32%, backed repealing Ireland’s Eighth Amendment that affords a fetus the same protections as the woman.

The exit poll by the Irish Times was conducted by Ipsos/MRBI among 4,000 respondents at 160 polling stations in 158 Irish constituencies.

A second exit poll published Friday on Ireland’s abortion referendum, this time by the nation’s state broadcaster, showed that voters who support women’s abortion rights won a landslide victory.

RTÉ, which commissioned the poll in association with several Irish universities, found that Irish voters 69.4% to 30.6% want the country to change its constitution so that abortion is legal up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Both polls, from RTÉ and the Irish Times newspaper, indicated a far wider margin of victory for the “Yes” side than forecast in the run up to the vote after a long and divisive campaign.

Support to overturn Ireland’s Eighth Amendment was driven by large numbers of younger voters, according to the exit polls.

Fully legalized abortion is perhaps the last significant cultural taboo that Catholic-majority Ireland has grappled with following earlier votes on contraception, divorce, homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

The vote count begins on Saturday morning, with an official result expected in the early afternoon, although it could come later if turnout is especially high.

About 3.3 million people are registered to vote.

Ireland has held six referendums on various issues over the last decade.

The last one was in 2015, on same-sex marriage. Voters endorsed it.

Fine weather over much of the country, including the capital Dublin, helped feed the high turnout.

Currently, 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 at up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.

It would be a major step for a country where almost 80% of the population still strongly identify as Catholic.

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.

"If the referendum doesn't pass, these women will continue to have to travel abroad in their thousands," Varadkar said.

John McGuirk, a prominent Irish abortion rights opponent, noted that Friday 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," McGuirk said.

Save The 8th, an organization that opposes abortion, sent an email Friday morning to supporters and media targeted at undecided voters. "Abortion does one thing, and one thing only — it kills a baby," it said.

In Dublin, "Yes" campaigners handed out stickers at major pedestrian crossroads. And many people who voted on their way to work wore "I voted" buttons.

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

The major newspapers carried "letters to the editor" from concerned citizens.

"If we vote 'Yes,' every unborn, wanted and unwanted, will have zero rights," wrote Frances Kelleher, from Killarney, in the Irish Independent. "I do not believe the smart people of Ireland want this unrestricted, abortion-on-demand bill. I will be voting 'No.' "

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 United States, 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.

Thousands of Irish nationals traveled home to cast their vote in Friday's referendum. Their stories, and journeys, have been filling up social media platforms using the #hometovote hashtag.

"No flights left from London, so I have a 4 hour train, 4 hour wait and 3 hour ferry to make it home to vote- which is a walk in the park in comparison to the journey that Irish women are making every day to the UK," @MichelleMarleyy wrote.

Liam Dunne, 63, a farmer who lives south of Dublin and supports a woman's right to abortion, said he was confident his side would prevail. He believes that abortion should be a personal decision and not up to the government to decide.

"The way it is now, it's a bit like in America where sometimes there's nothing to prevent your neighbor from buying a gun. It leaves you feeling a little bit powerless," he said.</s>A leading campaigner for repealing Ireland's constitutional ban on abortions says it's a "monumental day for women in Ireland" after voters appeared to have overwhelmingly backed liberalizing the country's strict abortion laws.



Orla O'Connor, co-director of the Together for Yes group, said Saturday: "This is about women taking their rightful place in Irish society, finally."

Votes for Friday's historic referendum are still being counted, but two exit polls predict a landslide victory for those who want to repeal the constitutional ban on abortions. A leading anti-abortion group admitted defeat Saturday.

O'Connor said the vote is a "rejection of an Ireland that treated women as second-class citizens. This is about women's equality and this day brings massive change, monumental change for women in Ireland, and there is no going back."

___

12 noon

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.

___

10:40 a.m.

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.

___

7 a.m.

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>More than two-thirds of voters backed repealing Ireland’s strict abortion ban on Friday, according to an exit poll by Ipsos/MRBI conducted for the Irish Times.

While the official tally won’t be completed until Saturday, Ireland is poised to align its abortion laws with the European mainstream. It will mark the second major progressive step by Irish voters in recent years, following the referendum to allow same-sex marriage in 2015.

The campaign placed a spotlight on cultural attitudes in the historically Catholic nation, and it’s been a test for digital platforms including Google and Facebook, which have worked to combat foreign attempts to sway the vote with online ads.

“A nation transformed. If vindicated in the final result, the exit polls suggest that Ireland has undertaken a profound transformation from a state beholden to a particular religious domination to a modern cosmopolitan reality,” tweeted Ben Tonra, professor of international relations at the UCD School of Politics and International Relations. “It vindicates a generation’s ambition. Alongside the marriage equality referendum, it redefines modern Ireland.”

The poll, which surveyed more than 4,000 voters at 160 polling locations across Ireland, recorded 68 percent support for changing abortion laws and 32 percent of voters opposed, with a reported margin of error of 1.5 percentage points.

“It’s a good day, Ireland is finally moving forward with the rest of the world,” said Paul Keogh, a 41-year-old maintenance technician earlier on Friday outside a polling station in Dublin. “I would see it as a historic moment. I wasn’t always convinced, I just think down through the years the Catholic Church had too much of a say.”

The question on the ballot essentially asked voters whether to repeal the Irish constitution’s eighth amendment — which gives mother and the unborn an equal right to life — and give the parliament new responsibilities to legislate on abortion.

“The 8th did not create an unborn child’s right to life — it merely acknowledged it. The right exists, independent of what a majority says,” tweeted John McGuirk, spokesman for the anti-abortion campaign Save the 8th. “That said, with a result of that magnitude, clearly there was very little to be done.”

The government plans to introduce legislation to allow abortion for any reason up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, following a 72-hour waiting period. Beyond that point, pregnancies could be terminated in cases such as rape, incest or fatal birth defects, according to a draft bill, in line with the recommendations of a cross-party committee in the Irish parliament.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar campaigned strongly for repeal, tweeting Friday “It’s a big YES from me.”Opposition leader Micheál Martin also risked a conservative backlash within his Fianna Fáil party after he swung behind legalizing abortion.

Polls closed at 10 p.m. in Ireland, but formal counting won’t begin until 9 a.m. local time Saturday. Constituencies will send their tallies to the Central Count Centre in Dublin, to be posted live at Referendum.ie. The final count isn’t likely to be announced before late afternoon, officials said.

Proponents for repeal argued Ireland’s existing laws punish women, and they noted several thousand Irish women already travel to Britain each year for abortions while others order illegal pills online. Cases such as the 2012 death of 31-year-old Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar remained a rallying cry to remove the abortion ban, which has been in place since 1983.

“I’m not voting for abortion, I’m voting for the repeal of this amendment and I think they get confused,” said a 71-year-old female voter who preferred to remain anonymous. “Why should women have to go to England to get an abortion?”

The last polls ahead of the vote predicted a win for repeal, although they also showed the anti-abortion side gained ground in the final weeks. Some undecided voters said that while they felt Ireland’s existing laws are too strict, the government’s 12-week proposal goes too far.

“I voted No myself … I was going to vote Yes but I just think the legislation is just far too broad. If the government came up with something better I would have voted Yes,” said Patrick, a 21-year-old student who declined to give his full name, after voting in Dublin on Friday.

The anti-abortion side argued that repealing the ban would lead to “abortion on demand,” and highlighted recognizable signs of life within 12-week old fetuses. Campaigners against repeal, which included right-wing and Catholic groups, cast their effort as a rebellion from the Irish heartlands against a liberal elite, in the style of recent populist campaigns.

“I suppose I’m one of the old hardy annuals, but I think the Yes side are voting for murder,” said one elderly man, who didn’t want to be named, after casting his vote against the repeal.</s>Gregory Katz And Renata Brito, The Associated Press 

 



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 nation 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 called it a once-in-a-generation opportunity to liberalize some of Europe's strictest abortion rules.

Results of the referendum are expected on Saturday.

Voters went to the polls after a campaign that aroused deep emotions on both sides. For advocates of repeal, a "yes" vote would be a landmark in Irish women's fight for equality and the right to control their own bodies. For opponents, it would be a betrayal of Ireland's commitment to protect the unborn.

The vote also is a key indicator of Ireland's trajectory, three years after the country voted to allow same-sex marriages and a year after its first openly gay prime minister took office.

Theresa Sweeney, a repeal supporter, was one of the first to arrive at a church polling station in Dublin.

"I feel like I've waited all of my adult life to have a say on this," she said.

Emma Leahy said her "yes" vote comes from her firm belief that everyone should be able to make their own choice when it comes to abortion.

"For Ireland, it's hope for the future," she said of the referendum. "Whether you agree or disagree, it shouldn't be the government or anyone else making that decision."

"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. That effectively bans all abortions in Ireland, except in cases when the woman's life is at risk. Having an illegal abortion is punishable by up to 14 years in prison, and several thousand Irish women travel each year to get abortions in neighbouring Britain.

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.

"Not taking anything for granted of course, but quietly confident," he said, adding that the upside of a sunny day in Ireland is that people come out to vote.

Thousands of Irish people abroad travelled home to take part in the historic referendum, and supporters of repeal gathered at Dublin Airport to give arrivals an ecstatic welcome.

Some activists held a placard reading "Thank you for making the journey so other women don't have to" -- a reference to the way Irish women seeking abortions have had to leave the country to obtain them.

Tara Flynn, who 11 years ago flew to the Netherlands for an abortion, said she planned to vote "yes" to make sure future generations of women don't endure what she did, with feelings of isolation and shame.

She said her vote would be one for solidarity and compassion, "a vote to say, I don't send you away anymore."

Campaigning was not allowed Friday, but Dublin was still filled with signs and banners urging citizens to vote "yes" or "no." Many of the anti-abortion signs showed photographs of fetuses.

Voting has already taken place on Ireland's remote 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 several 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."</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 Friday in Ireland's abortion referendum to remove the country's "legacy of shame" toward women by overturning the strict abortion law that fiercely divides 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.

The vote is expected to be an extremely close contest, with polls closing at 10 p.m. local time (5 p.m. ET). The result of the highly controversial issue is expected Saturday afternoon.

Fine weather over much of the country, including the capital Dublin, could translate to a high turnout that would favor those who want to change Ireland's abortion law.

Currently, 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 major step for a country where almost 80% of the population still strongly identify as Catholic.

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.

"If the referendum doesn't pass these women will continue to have to travel abroad in their thousands," Varadkar said.

John McGuirk, a prominent Irish abortion rights opponent, noted that Friday 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," McGuirk said.

Save The 8th, an organization that opposes abortion, sent an email Friday morning to supporters and media targeted at undecided voters. "Abortion does one thing, and one thing only — it kills a baby," it said.

In Dublin, "Yes" campaigners handed out stickers at major pedestrian crossroads. And many people who voted on their way to work wore "I voted" buttons.

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

The major newspapers carried "letters to the editor" from concerned citizens.

"If we vote 'Yes,' every unborn, wanted and unwanted, will have zero rights," wrote Frances Kelleher, from Killarney, in the Irish Independent. "I do not believe the smart people of Ireland want this unrestricted, abortion-on-demand bill. I will be voting 'No.'"

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 United States, 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.

Thousands of Irish nationals traveled home to cast their vote in Friday's referendum. Their stories, and journeys, have been filling up social media platforms using the "#hometovote" hashtag.

"No flights left from London, so I have a 4 hour train, 4 hour wait and 3 hour ferry to make it home to vote- which is a walk in the park in comparison to the journey that Irish women are making every day to the UK," @MichelleMarleyy wrote.

Liam Dunne, 63, a farmer who lives south of Dublin and supports a woman's right to abortion, said he was confident his side would prevail. He believes that abortion should be a personal decision and not up to the government to decide.

"The way it is now, it's a bit like in America where sometimes there's nothing to prevent your neighbor from buying a gun. It leaves you feeling a little bit powerless," he said.</s>Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Emotions have been running high during the campaign

Counting has started in the Irish abortion referendum, hours after exit polls suggested a landslide vote in favour of liberalising the law.

Polls by The Irish Times and RTÉ suggested about 69% voted to repeal a part of the constitution that effectively bans terminations.

One of the main anti-abortion campaigns has already conceded defeat.

"The unborn child no longer has a right to life recognised by the Irish state," said John McGuirk, from Save the 8th.

Counting began at 09:00 local time and the result is expected by the evening.

Those taking part in Friday's referendum were asked whether they wanted to repeal or retain a part of the constitution known as the Eighth Amendment, which says an unborn child has the same right to life as a pregnant woman.

'Broken-hearted'

Mr McGuirk, communications director of the anti-abortion Save The 8th campaign, conceded defeat and said No campaigners were "deeply broken-hearted".

"Shortly, legislation will be introduced that will allow babies to be killed in our country," his statement said.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The Eighth Amendment was introduced after a referendum in 1983

However, he vowed that No campaigners would continue to protest, "if and when abortion clinics are opened in Ireland".

"Every time an unborn child has his or her life ended in Ireland, we will oppose that, and make our voices known," he added.

Earlier, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar, who supported the reforms, said it looked as if the country was about to "make history".

Broadcaster RTÉ's exit poll suggested 69.4% in favour of the Yes side and 30.6% for No. In Dublin, 79% of people voted for repeal, according to the RTÉ poll.

An exit poll released by The Irish Times points to 68% Yes to 32% for No.

Tweeting on Friday night, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said: "Thank you to everyone who voted today. Democracy in action. It's looking like we will make history tomorrow... "

In other reaction:

Irish health minister Simon Harris tweeted: "Will sleep tonight in the hope of waking up to a country that is more compassionate, more caring and more respectful"

Prominent No campaigner Cora Sherlock expressed disappointment at the exit polls but said the pro-life movement would "rise to any challenge it faces". She added: "Let's go into tomorrow with this in mind"

Penny Mordaunt, the UK's minister for women and equalities, called it a "historic and great day for Ireland and a hopeful one for Northern Ireland". Northern Ireland's abortion laws are much stricter than the rest of the UK

The leader of Northern Ireland's centrist Alliance Party, Naomi Long, said it appeared to be an "incredible result" for the Yes campaign

Currently, abortion is only allowed when a woman's life is at risk, but not in cases of rape, incest or fatal foetal abnormality.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption "Legislation will go as quickly as possible"

The turnout looks to have been higher than that for the country's referendum on same-sex marriage and its most recent general election.

More than 3.2 million people were registered to vote in the referendum, with more than 100,000 new voters registering ahead of the poll.

The referendum was the result of a decades-long debate about abortion in the Republic of Ireland and was the country's sixth vote on the issue.

Where does the law stand?

The now-controversial Eighth Amendment was introduced after a referendum in 1983.

It "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" - meaning the life of the woman and the unborn are seen as equal.

Since 2013, terminations have only been allowed in Ireland when the life of the mother is at risk, including from suicide.

Image copyright Brian Lawless Image caption Young and old have been turning out at count centres

The maximum penalty for accessing an illegal abortion is 14 years in prison.

In 2017, the Citizens' Assembly, a body set up to advise the Irish government on constitutional change, voted to replace or amend the part of Ireland's Constitution which strictly limits the availability of abortion.

So the Irish people were asked if they wanted to remove the Eighth Amendment and allow politicians to set the country's abortion laws in the future.

The wording on the ballot paper was: "Provision may be made by law for the regulation of termination of pregnancies."

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The background and potential outcomes to the Republic of Ireland's abortion referendum

The ballot paper did not mention the Eighth Amendment or abortion, instead asking: "Do you approve of the proposal to amend the Constitution contained in the undermentioned Bill?"

Those who wanted to retain the Eighth Amendment voted No, while those who wanted to replace it voted Yes.

If a majority has voted yes - as appears to be the case - then the Irish government's recommendation is that women will be able to access a termination within the first 12 weeks of their pregnancy.

However, beyond 12 weeks, abortions would only be permitted where there is a risk to a woman's life or of serious harm to the physical or mental health of a woman, up until the 24th week of pregnancy.

Terminations would also be permitted in cases of fatal foetal abnormality.</s>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.

The referendum Friday will decide whether the eighth amendment of the constitution is repealed, which would open the way for more liberal legislation.

READ MORE: What you need to know about Ireland’s bitterly-debated abortion vote

The amendment, in place since 1983, requires authorities to equally protect the right to life of a mother and that of a fetus, from the moment of conception.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar tweeted his support for the bill before a moratorium on campaigning took effect Thursday. He urged people to vote “yes” in favour of repeal.

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

There was good weather Friday morning in the capital, Dublin, and much of the country, a factor that could help the “yes” forces in favour of repeal get the heavy turnout they seek.

“Yes” campaigners were handing out stickers at several major pedestrian crossroads Friday morning. Many people voted on their way to work and sported “I voted” buttons.

They didn’t sway Vera Rooney, who voted in favour of keeping the ban in place.

“It is a hard decision but I just feel I don’t have the right to take life. I think life is sacred and for that reason I had to vote no,” said Rooney, who voted early Friday at the North Grand Church polling station in Dublin.

READ MORE: Irish in Canada are flying #HomeToVote in Ireland’s abortion referendum

Graffiti saying “Trust Women” by “yes” backers was scrawled on the pavement outside the polling station in Dublin as voting opened. An opponent of the abortion clause repeal wrote: “Mama, save me, I love you.”

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 one woman. “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.</s>More than 66 percent of Irish voters chose to repeal the Eighth Amendment, which has effectively banned abortion in the nation since its passage in 1983. The amendment says an unborn child has the same right to life as a pregnant woman. Abortion was not permitted in cases of rape, incest or fetal abnormalities.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who is in favor of the change, said the vote to repeal the ban represents "the culmination of a quiet revolution that has been taking place in Ireland over the last couple of decades."

The result comes three years after Ireland became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage by popular vote, and a year after Varadkar, an openly-gay politician and son of an Indian immigrant, became Prime Minister.

Once a deeply religious country — Ireland only voted to legalize divorce by a razor-thin majority in 1995 — the authority of the Roman Catholic Church and its reputation has been damaged in a series of scandals over the past 20 years.

Siobhan Donohue, chairwoman for Termination for Medical Reasons (TFMR), an abortion rights campaign group, described the result as "a hugely significant and hugely historic step forward."

Donohue, who had to travel to neighboring Britain to have an abortion when her baby TJ was diagnosed with a fetal anomaly, said she felt relieved.

"It confirmed to us that we do live in a compassionate country, which we thought we did but we didn't know how far it reached," she said.

"There was a lot of worry and a lot of concern over if it didn't pass, what would happen," she told NBC News from Dublin. "Having shared our stories and shared our experiences, if people had voted 'no' what would that have meant for us?"

But Donohue warned that the fight was not over, and that people in Ireland will still have to travel to Britain in order to receive an abortion in coming weeks until the law is changed. "But it's the first, big and important step," she said.

Orla Halpenny, a doctor and spokesperson for the anti-abortion group Doctors for Life, described the result as "disappointing."

"All medical pro-life groups are needed now more than ever," she said, adding that Doctors for Life will be very busy ensuring that doctors were granted "genuine" conscientious objection.

Halpenny said she was concerned that doctors will not be given the right to refuse to refer patients on to termination services.

It now falls on Parliament to establish new laws governing abortions.

The government proposes that the law be changed to allow unrestricted access to abortions up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. Later abortions would also be allowed in special circumstances.

Ireland has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the European Union, with Malta — where abortion is banned under all circumstances— the only member of the 28-country bloc with tighter legislation.

The referendum follows an emotive and often acrimonious campaign. More than 3.2 million people registered to vote in the referendum.

Ireland is one of the few E.U. countries that does not allow those abroad to vote by mail or at embassies, so many expatriates traveled to cast their ballots and shared their journeys on social media under the hashtag #hometovote.

Amnesty International welcomed the referendum result as "a victory for equality, for dignity, for respect and compassion." But said Northern Ireland's abortion laws must now be relaxed.

Access to abortion is also highly restricted across the border in Northern Ireland, which is part of United Kingdom.
Ireland holds a referendum which will decide whether to repeal the constitutional prohibition of abortion. Exit polls suggest the results shall be 68% "yes" and 32% "no". The results will be released at 09:00 UTC tomorrow.