Ireland’s Taoiseach Leo Varadkar [official website] on Monday announced [statement] his Cabinet’s approval to hold a referendum on abortion in late May or early June stating the exact date will become clear after a debate and vote in the Dáil and Seanad of the Oireachtas [official website].

Expressing his confidence in meeting the timeline, Varadkar stated that Health Minister Simon Harris [official profile] has now been given approval to prepare a referendum bill to amend Ireland’s Constitution [text, PDF]. This amendment would become the thirty-sixth amendment to the Ireland Constitution.

Varadkar thanked the Citizens Assembly and the All-Party Committee [official websites] for their advice and guidance, and efforts in bringing the government to this point. Varadkar added:

We know that thousands of Irish women – women from every single county in Ireland – go abroad for abortions every year. We know that many women are obtaining abortion pills through the post to end their pregnancies, without any medical support, or counselling, or supervision. So, we already have abortion in Ireland but it is unsafe, unregulated and unlawful. We cannot continue to export our problems and import our solutions. As Taoiseach – as a medical doctor – and as a former Minister for Health – I do not believe we can continue with a situation where women in crisis are risking their lives through the use of unregulated medicines. … I believe this is a decision about whether we want to continue to stigmatise and criminalise our sisters, our co-workers, and our friends. Or whether we are prepared to make a collective act of leadership to show empathy and compassion … I know this will be a difficult decision for the Irish people to make. It is a very personal and private issue. For most of us, it’s not a black and white issue; it’s one that is grey. … I want the debate to respectful on all sides, and should never be personalised. However difficult, I believe the time has come to allow the people to make this decision. The question has to be a Yes or No one: do we reform our abortion laws or do we leave them as they are? For my part, I will advocate for a Yes vote.

Varadkar cited his own personal experiences with two cases involving abortion that convinced him that matters concerning abortion have “no place in our Constitution.” If enough Irish citizens vote yes on the referendum, the thirty-sixth amendment will become effective, deleting article 40.3.3, which represents the eighth amendment to the constitution and its ban on abortion. The thirty-sixth amendment would also repeal the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments, which are linked to the eighth.

Varadkar concluded by pointing to many individuals, “mainly men”, who have spoken about their personal journeys and added: “But we should remember that the saddest and loneliest journey is made by the Irish women who travel to other countries in their thousands to end their pregnancies. These journeys do not have to happen, and that can change. That’s now in our hands.”