As Ireland approaches a vote to determine whether abortion remains illegal in the nation, all signs indicate young people, particularly college students, will be critical to the referendum’s outcome.
“It [May 25] was the only available window to ensure as many students as possible would be able to vote,” a political source said Thursday, according to The Irish Times.
Approximately 250,000 students attend university in Ireland, The Irish Times reported.
Pro-abortion voices have been particularly loud among the Union Of Students in Ireland (USI), who have been campaigning under “students for choice.” Universities have seen huge lines amass, as students line up to register to vote in the referendum on abortion, USI president Michael Kerrigan said. “Students are very motivated. They know this is about their future and will affect them the most,” Kerrigan said, according to The Irish Times.
Twenty-seven-thousand students who, abortion referendum aside, would not have voted are registered to cast their ballots, the group reported.
Great canvass this evening with Dundalk @Together4yes ! Positive but mixed response on the doors. There’s an urban/rural divide out there so if you have a free evening over the next two weeks get out there and knock on doors. Every vote counts !! #ladsforchoice #Together4YES pic.twitter.com/I66ydXvyel
— Craig McHugh (@craigmchug) May 9, 2018
Google will ban all ads pertaining to Ireland’s abortion referendum Wednesday in an effort to protect the integrity of the pro-life and pro-abortion forces within the nation, the tech company announced Wednesday, according to BBC News. The move comes after Facebook announced Tuesday it won’t accept any foreign ads related to Ireland’s upcoming referendum on abortion. (RELATED: Google Blocks All Abortion Referendum Ads In Ireland)
If Ireland votes in the referendum to repeal the country’s ban on abortion, women will have the option to abort up to six months into a pregnancy. Between the third and sixth month of pregnancy, however, abortions will be permitted only in the presence of fatal fetal abnormalities and where the mother’s life is threatened.
Abortion advocates have called Ireland’s abortion ban “archaic and dangerous.” (RELATED: Here’s What Abortion In Ireland Will Look Like After The Referendum)
Fewer than three in 10 Irish support elective abortions, according to Breaking News. Support for elective abortion support is low — namely, abortions for reasons other than to save the mother’s life, rape cases, and grave fetal abnormalities.
The May 25 referendum vote will be tight, recent polling suggests.