爱尔兰考虑废除堕胎禁令

Ireland Weighs Repealing Abortion Ban in a Landmark Referendum

ONMAY 25, THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND will vote in a landmark referendum on the eighth amendment of the country's constitution, which effectively outlaws abortion.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, 39, announced the referendum three months after becoming the country's youngest leader in history.

While Ireland has taken some socially progressive steps in recent years, including legalizing same-sex marriage in 2015, the abortion issue remains divisive in the predominantly Catholic country.

(First of all, )RESTRICTIVE REPUBLIC

Ireland's abortion laws are among the world's most restrictive.

The eighth amendment, passed in 1983, gives an unborn fetus a right to life equal to that of its pregnant mother.

Women can face a 14-year prison sentence for having an abortion, even in cases of rape or nonviable pregnancies.

From 2010 to 2015, 25,000 Irish women traveled to England and Wales to terminate pregnancies.

(And then, )INCREMENTAL CHANGE