Ireland is preparing
for a vote that will divide the country.
In this traditionally Catholic country,
abortion is still illegal.
The issue has bitterly divided Irish society for 35 years.
Abortion will be legalized in this country very soon.
Although later referendums
eased the law slightly,
a near total ban on abortion remains in place.
In 2012, Savita Halappanavar died
of complications during pregnancy.
She had requested an abortion but was refused.
Her death reignited the debate.
A new referendum will be held on May the 25th.
Two polarized camps are now competing for votes,
pro-choice supporters who favor
a more liberal, secular Ireland,
This is a hugely important time for Ireland
to look at what we are about really as a country,
and how we value people's lives.
And pro-life supporters,
who want to safeguard conservative legislation.
This is yet a very definitive referendum,
it's one with will decide whether Ireland keeps its culture
or will it have a massive shift
in its culture on abortion.
Ireland is voting on
the eighth amendment to its Constitution,
in which the state acknowledges
the right to life of the unborn,
and with due regard to
the equal right to life of the mother.
It's one of Europe's most restrictive abortion laws,
banning terminations in all circumstances,
except when a mother's life is at risk.
The eighth amendment was introduced in 1983,
after 67% of Irish voters supported it
in a referendum backed by the Catholic church.
Ailbhe Smyth is a veteran pro-choice activist.
She campaigned against the introduction
of the eighth amendment in 1983,
and has fought for
the liberalization of Ireland's abortion laws ever since.
1983 was a much more brutal and violent campaign.
Ireland was truly a different country then.
The country I grew up in was much more oppressive,
it was much more judgmental.
We were regularly called baby killers, murderers.
The eighth amendment was really
the thorn in the flesh of my own adult life.
The Catholic Church opposes abortion,
but its influence in Ireland has waned in recent years.
A series of sexual abuse and other scandals
has led many to question the church's moral authority.
Since the early 1990's, the number of
church attending Catholics has fallen,
and attitudes have liberalized.
In 2015, almost two-thirds of Irish voters
endorsed their referendum proposal
to legalize same-sex marriage.
Ireland has moved on.
It's just a different country to what it was.
But the issue of abortion remains divisive.
The referendum on May the 25th will be close.
Polls show the support to repeal
the eighth amendment stands at around 50%.
Niamh Ui Bhriain has campaigned
to retain the eighth amendment
and Ireland's ban on abortion since the early 1990's.
The eighth amendment protects
the right to life of unborn children.
If you take it away,
if you take it away out of the Constitution,
the people will never get to vote
on our abortion laws again.
In this referendum campaign,
the church has taken a backseat.
Instead, pro-life groups,
presenting themselves as non-denominational,
are leading the charge to retain the current law.
I think there are probably three key points to the debate.
The first one is that abortion kills the baby,
and the evidence for that,
of course, is absolute and overwhelming.
The second, I think,
is the evidence that shows that abortion hurts women.
Is that very often women are coerced into having abortions,
and that it leaves them with deep sadness and regret.
And I think that the third point
is that people understand that if
we want to have a pro-life culture in this country,
we need to save the eighth amendment.
Not the church, not the street.
But pro-choice campaigners argue
that the eighth amendment
does not reduce the number of abortions.
Each year, over 3,500 women travel
from Ireland to Britain for a termination,
and it's estimated that up to 2,000 women
purchase abortion pills online.
Three and a half thousand women
going to Britain for an abortion every year
makes me feel very wretched
and
deeply,
at a very profound level, ashamed that, you know,
I'm part of a society which says,
actually, we don't really care what happens to women.
Ireland's ruling party
is allowing its politicians a free vote on the issue.
Prime Minister Leo Varadkar is backing repeal,
and has gone one step further,
proposing the right to a termination
up to the 12th week of pregnancy if the referendum passes.
We already have abortion in Ireland,
but it's unsafe, unregulated, and unlawful,
and, in my opinion,
we cannot continue to export our problems.
They're saying that you can have abortion
on demand for the first three months of pregnancy,
so that's abortion for any reason at all, or no reason.
I think this is something,
an extraordinary change for Irish culture,
'cause we've traditionally had a culture
which protected mother and the baby.
There's this kind of myth out there
that you wake up some morning and say,
I'm going to have an abortion.
Where does this come from?
It comes from a fundamental disrespect for women.
It's a denial of women's right
to be fully functioning citizens and members of the state.
I would never ever second guess
the people of Ireland in a referendum.
I hope we can win, I believe we can win.
I'm confident that they're going to vote,
and in a progressive and compassionate way,
to save the eighth amendment.
The vote to repeal the 35-year law
will determine whether Ireland continues on its journey
to becoming a more secular society.