Abortions to become ‘safe, legal, and rare’

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has announced a referendum on abortion will take place in late May and that, if it is passed along with follow-up legislation, terminations will become “safe, legal, and rare”.

Cabinet has agreed to hold the referendum in late May and to ask voters whether or not to repeal the Eighth Amendment, which protects the life of the unborn.

Mr Varadkar said the issue is not “black and white”, that the current regime stigmatised people, and the process being proposed would “remove the effective ban” on abortions.