On Friday, May 25, Ireland will hold a historic referendum on abortion. The laws of the Irish Republic are among the most restrictive in the world, denying women termination of pregnancy even in cases of rape or incest.

Irish society, though, has changed: it is one of the youngest and dynamic country in Europe. And today perhaps this is the most important fact to take into account when analyzing a campaign with very harsh tones which saw the anti-choice groups resorting to any ploy to convince the country that what is being planted by this referendum is basically the legalization of homicide.

In 2015, against all odds, the legalization of marriage between people of the same sex was approved by a notable majority of people. And it is expected that young people, who conformed the majority of the population of the Republic of Ireland will also help to eliminate the Eighth Amendment. Thousands of Irish people living abroad are returning to Ireland to vote this Friday.

Anti-abortion groups on the rampage

So called pro-life campaigners have been always very active in Ireland, quick to label abortion and therefore women’s right to chose, as ‘murder’. They have used all means to make their point, helped by a very conservative and reactionary catholic church hierarchy which worked on the sense of guilt and shame of people, and women in particular. 

Anti-abortion groups have turned especially to the US for support, included financial support. Which has promptly been granted.

Things are not very different now. And in fact not only the Americans continue to inject money into the pockets of the anti-choice groups but the same anti-abortion groups themselves are employing controversial data-mining companies used recently in the campaigns in favor of Brexit and Donald Trump.

Women’s right to decide

Social networks have become one of the places where the debate on this referendum is hot. Although real squares and streets have also been filled with people, women and men. The question on the ballot asks voters whether they are in favor of the abolition of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution (of 1983) that prohibits any type of termination of pregnancy in Ireland.

The cases of young, and less young, women who have been forced to travel to England to be able to end an unwanted pregnancy can be counted by the thousands. Most have happened in silence, away from media attention.

But for other women it has not been like that. Like the sadly famous case of the 14-year-old girl who became pregnant as a result of rape. Known throughout the world as "case X", the young girl, with suicidal tendencies, finally had to go to court to get permission to travel abroad in order to end the pregnancy.

Or as the case of young Savita Halappanavar who died in hospital after being denied an abortion that could have saved her life when she was miscarrying.

The question of the termination of pregnancy undoubtedly involves many considerations and is ultimately a personal choice, but precisely this referendum is about this: women’s right to decide.

Writer Lisa McInerney (one of the most recognized among the young authors, winner of important prizes with her first novel ‘The Glorious Heresies’) speaks from her home in the County Galway.

“To be honest, I do not feel good about it. In terms of women's rights - even in terms of consideration of women's lives - Ireland still has some way to go”.

Catholic church still very powerful

Lisa insists that “the fact that for the past few decades women have been free to travel to the UK to access abortion services means that many people can pretend that Ireland does not have abortion, or that they and their families are not affected by crisis pregnancies. There is still a lot of shame around pregnancy, rape, fatal foetal abnormalities, even women's bodies in general, so it is very difficult for women to share their stories, which of course compounds the issue: conservatives can pretend that these are not pressing issues and that the country does not have a responsibility to deal with them”.

For Lisa "is embarrassing that conservatives here are happy to export these problems to the UK. It means that crisis pregnancies in Ireland are subject to British legislation. How any Irish person could be happy with this set-up is beyond me. I think it is a case of that old saying, out of sight, out of mind”.

The political parties have almost unanimously declared themselves in favor of the abolition of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. The current government (Fine Gael, conservative) has taken a clear position on the issue saying "it is not adequate". In fact, the prime minister, Leo Varadkar (doctor of 39 years and who has openly declared his homosexuality) has been the driving force of this referendum.

Sinn Fein, the Irish Labor Party, the Social Democrats and the various socialist parties and independent deputies have spoken out in favor of the rejection. The only party that does not agree is the Fianna Fail and even so, its leader, Micheal Martin is making an independent campaign for the rejection.

Government and opposition united to change strict legislation

“There is a lot of pragmatic state support for change" says Lisa and adds: "Unfortunately, there is also a lot of scaremongering and bald-faced lies coming from the No camp, all of whom are hard-line Catholics, though of course not hard-line enough to admit it. Catholic organisations in Ireland still have a lot of money and power, and as far as I can tell they are unscrupulous in their lying and obfuscating of facts in their campaigning”.

Lisa makes only one examples of many: “The anti-abortion groups have posters up all over the country claiming that this means Down Syndrome babies will be aborted - despite the fact that the proposed legislation only covers abortion up to 12 weeks (too early for abnormalities to be detected) and after 12 weeks, only on grounds to there being a threat to the health of the mother”.

Having said that, Lisa adds that “Ireland's proposed legislation is much more restrictive than that of the UK, so even if they weren't using ridiculous lies on their posters, Ireland would remain a much more conservative country than the UK”.

Lisa McInerney has no doubt as to what to vote. “Of course I will vote Yes. - she said - And I will do it for two reasons: first because I believe that nobody has the right to force a woman or girl to continue with a pregnancy that she does not want and secondly because, as an Irish patriot, it seems to me that leaving a foreign country to legislate for Irish women, it's not fair”.

The newly elected president of Sinn Fein, Mary Lou McDonald is also campaigning for the Yes camp. “As a mother of two children, including a teenage daughter, - she said - I want to see them grow up in a compassionate and caring Ireland. An Ireland that doesn't punish tragedy. An Ireland that doesn't turn its back on women and girls. I want my daughter and her friends to be able to live in Ireland where they can make decisions about their own healthcare with the support of their doctors”.