DUBLIN: Activists were making their final push for votes on Thursday on the last day of campaigning in Ireland’s abortion referendum as residents of some of the country’s remote areas began casting their ballots.

With less than 24 hours to go until the polls open in a country that historically clung to the Roman Catholic Church, campaigners were trying to convince a large bloc of undecided voters.

The referendum will decide whether to repeal a constitutional ban on all abortions except in cases where the mother’s life is at risk.

Recent opinion polls have put the “Yes” camp ahead, but its lead has narrowed in some surveys, while around one in six people remain undecided.

People walking through Dublin’s St Stephen’s Green square wore stickers and badges on their coats in English and Irish indicating how they were going to vote.

At Dublin Airport, people were flying home from overseas to cast their ballot, with some pro-choice passengers embracing each other at the terminal gates.

Meanwhile a group of older “No” supporters stood outside the parliament holding placards.

Geraldine Martin, a spokeswoman for the Love Both pro-life campaign, told AFP that the government had failed to help mothers with unwanted pregnancies.

“At no stage has the government held out its hand to these women and said, ‘How can I help you? How can I take the pressure off you so you don’t feel so driven towards abortion?’” The polls are open from 7am (0600 GMT) until 10pm (2100 GMT) on Friday. The count takes place on Saturday and the result is expected in the evening.

Katie Ascough, 21, a spokeswoman for the Love Both campaign, said: “Our government is proposing abortion on-demand, unrestricted up until 12 weeks, and on undefined mental health grounds up until six months.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who is calling for a “Yes” vote, said it was a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to change the laws.

He told Newstalk radio that since the eighth amendment was introduced into the Irish constitution, some 170,000 women had gone abroad for a termination.

His governing Fine Gael party, has not taken an official position on the referendum, allowing its lawmakers and members to vote with their consciences, as has Fianna Fail, the second-largest party which props up the Fine Gael minority government.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2018