Ireland votes abortion at the end of March

dublin - Ireland will vote in a referendum on 25 May on the liberalization of abortion laws, the government said Wednesday. It is the first time in 35 years that voters have the opportunity to revise one of the most stringent laws.

Abortion was long a subject that caused divisions in strictly Roman Catholic Ireland. A complete ban was only lifted in 2013 when abortion was allowed in cases where the life of the mother is at risk.

Voters will be asked in the referendum whether they want to withdraw the eighth amendment of the constitution. That was inserted in 1983 to establish the equal right to life of the mother and her unborn child in the constitution.