Appetite for change stirred after announcement of 2018 referendum on Ireland’s strict laws on terminationsThousands of people have protested in Dublin, calling for an end to Ireland’s strict abortion laws. This year’s march, the sixth in a series of annual events, was more significant than ever given the recent confirmation there will be a referendum on abortion next year. @freesafelegal #ARCMarch17 pic.twitter.com/6ICjQ9wMMAThe government recently set a potential timescale of early summer 2018 for a referendum on the eighth amendment, the section of Ireland’s constitution imposing tight legal restrictions on terminations. Thousands of Irish women travel to the British mainland each year to have a legal termination. A few hundred demonstrators gathered outside the embassy, chanting: “34 years since ’83, stop sending women across the sea” and holding placards which read: “Healthcare not Ryanair” and “Irish women deserve better”.

Source: The Guardian September 30, 2017 17:41 UTC