Irish women’s rights referendum victory

This photo shows an Irish trade union pro-women’s rights banner. Today, campaigns like this turned out to have won in Ireland.

For decades, the Roman Catholic church, especially the most right-wing tendencies of its hierarchy, was very powerful in Ireland.

That led to the most restrictive anti-abortion law in Europe. It led to scandals. Like forced labour by young women, the ‘Magdalene sisters‘ scandal. Like massive sexual abuse of children by priests, covered up by bishops and by the Vatican. Like mass graves where bodies of children, killed by ill-treatment at religious institutions, were dumped into.

When scandals like that became public, the grip of the Roman Catholic hierarchy on the Irish people weakened.

That showed in the results of two referendums. In 2015, a clear majority of Irish voters voted for equal marriage, including for LGBTQ people. This in spite of well-financed homophobic campaigns by the Catholic hierarchy and rich homophobes from the USA and other countries.

And today, the results of another referendum became known. 66%, a big majority, of Irish voters all over the country voted for abolishing the harsh anti-abortion law. Only in one county, Donegal, there was a wafer thin anti-women’s rights majority. This victory came in spite of well-financed misogynist campaigns by the Catholic hierarchy and rich anti-women people from the USA and other countries.

This 26 May 2018 video is called Referendum overturns Ireland’s abortion ban.

Powerful right-wing people usually hate referendums, now that they lose them, even in traditionally conservative Ireland. That’s why the present right-wing Dutch government wants to abolish referendums: they lose them again and again and again.