Catholic Ireland to be tested by abortion vote on whether to overturn near-total ban
Ireland, a once staunchly Catholic country, will hold a national referendum Friday on whether to overturn its strict abortion law, and polls show the vote will be close.
If the measure passes, it will be another milestone for Ireland after it legalized contraception (1979), divorce (1995) and same-sex marriage (2015).
A "Yes" vote to repeal Ireland's Eighth Amendment, which states a fetus has an equal right to life as the mother, would leave three places in Europe where abortion is illegal unless a woman’s life is at risk: the microstates of Andorra and San Marino and Malta....