Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, in favour of change, has called the referendum a “once in a generation decision”.
As IRELAND begins voting in a historic referendum on whether to repeal or retain the Eighth Amendment, international media organisations have been weighing in on the issue.
Ireland became the first country in the world to approve same-sex marriage by a popular vote – would underline the speed and scale of change in a country that is still majority Catholic.
In the past few days, TV stations, newspapers and other media outlets from around the world have covered Ireland’s abortion laws and questioned whether they will vote for change or to keep the laws as they are.
Exit polls from the Irish Times and the national broadcaster RTÉ showed a clear two-thirds of the country supported change.
Voters turned out in large numbers on Friday to have their say on whether to repeal the country’s Eighth Amendment, which outlaws abortion by giving equal rights to the unborn.
Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who supported the change and called the referendum a once-in-a-generation chance, said earlier on Friday that he was quietly confident that the high turnout was a good sign.Counting opens across the country at 9am on Saturday.
Currently, 78 percent of the Irish population is Catholic, and members of the church are hoping their members will vote “no”.
