Image: Mural in Dublin calling for a repeal of the 8th Amendment. Credit: Niall Carson/PA Images, all rights reserved.
The mood music sounds a bit better this time – at least for now. Both Google and Facebook have this week vowed to ban ads from “foreign actors” trying to influence Ireland’s upcoming abortion referendum, after journalists and campaigners exposed how foreign and alt-right groups are funnelling unregulated cash into the campaign, and exploiting loopholes to target Irish citizens via social media.
Ireland currently has some of the world’s most restrictive abortion laws, denying women and girls access to terminations even in cases of rape or incest. Over the years there have been horrifying cases including the slow, painful death of a woman refused a termination in hospital even though she was miscarrying. But Ireland’s pro-life lobby has successfully vanquished almost all attempts at reform.
