Voters in Ireland are heading to the polls this morning to decide whether the country should repeal its abortion laws, which are some of the most restrictive in the world.
In the country’s sixth referendum on the issue, Irish people will vote ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ on whether the constitution’s Eighth Amendment – which gives pregnant women and unborn fetuses an equal right to life – should be repealed.
The referendum has seen Irish people living all over the world return to their home country to vote, with others who have been out of Ireland too long to qualify flying back to campaign for their camp.
According to the country’s Local Government Department, more than 3.2 million people are registered to vote.
The polls, which opened at 7am on Friday, will close at 10pm, with the results expected to be announced on Saturday.
HuffPost UK is in Dublin with Amy Garland, 24, Emilia MacDermot, 24, and Leigh Garland, 19, who are all voting yes.
’Voters have been barred from wearing campaign pins or jumpers while casting their ballot in the highly-charged referendum, with canvassing banned within 50 metres of polling stations.
The vote could see a radical change in women’s access to abortions in Ireland.
Emilia said: “The undecideds are a massive worry. There are people who agree with abortion in the cases of rape, incest and FFA, but say they don’t ‘support abortion on demand.’
“Our grandmother is 85 years old and doesn’t feel it’s her place to take the rights away from young women, so although she doesn’t agree with abortion, she won’t be voting, and I’m proud of that.”
Under the country’s current legislation on abortion, terminating a pregnancy is effectively illegal. Women who breach the law can face up to 14 years in prison.
Emily is half-Italian, a country where abortion has been legal in Italy since the 70s. “It feels unfair that only half of me has the right to have an abortion!”
While Irish politicians voted to allow terminations under “limited circumstances” in 2013 – including when the mother’s life is under threat as a result of the pregnancy – just 25 legal abortions were carried out in Ireland in 2016.
In the same year, 3,265 Irish women travelled to the UK for a termination. Amy said: “I think we all know someone who’s had to travel to have an abortion.
“For people who do manage to get abroad, if they come back and they have complications, like bleeding, like haemorrhaging, it’s very risky for them to seek aftercare here. People are scared.
“Technically, they’ll be punished. People say ‘oh no one has been prosecuted’ but it’s the law, and they’re scared.”
The cost of travelling abroad is also an issue – Leigh: “Abortion in Ireland is a class issue. If the 8th amendment stays as it is, the same people who can afford to go abroad will keep going abroad.
“The ones who can’t will stay here and bring up an unwanted child in poverty.”
If current laws are overturned, women will be able to legally obtain an abortion within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and up to 24 weeks in cases where the woman’s life or health is at risk.
Terminations will also be allowed if the unborn baby had a fatal abnormality.
Not everyone had an easy time getting to polls – a Dublin-bound passenger jet carrying dozens of voters home was hit by another plane preparing for take-off at Stansted Airport.
Both planes were on the taxiway when the tail of the Ryanair aircraft was clipped by the wing of a Primera flight to Malaga, Ryanair said in a statement.
No one was injured and normal flights have resumed.