Ireland abortion referendum voting intention by age 2018

On May 25, 2018, the Republic of Ireland voted to remove the 8th amendment from its constitution. This amendment concerned abortion, and limited it to cases where the mother's life was at risk. In a poll conducted just before the referendum took place, support for repealing the amendment was highest among 25 to 34-year-old’s, while those aged 65 and over were the most likely to oppose repealing the amendment.

'Yes' wins with 66.4% of the votes

The eight amendment was repealed following the vote, with 66.4 percent voting to repeal the amendment, compared with 33.6 percent wishing to keep it in place. While most men and women supported repealing the amendment, there were higher levels of support among women. Similarly, in both urban and rural areas, a plurality of respondents to a survey advised they supported repealing the amendment, with urban areas having higher levels of support. Turnout for this referendum was also quite high, at 64.13 percent of eligible voters.

Abortion in the United States

Just over four years after this referendum, the United States Supreme Court made a judgment that profoundly changed abortion access for women in the U.S. On June 24, 2022, the court ruled that abortion was not a protected constitutional right, overturning the Roe vs Wade decision made decades earlier in 1973. As a consequence, individual states were able to ban or limit abortion, resulting in huge differences in abortion laws between states.

Will you vote Yes in favor of removing the 8th Amendment, or will you vote No to keep it?*

Characteristic	Yes - In favor of repealing the 8th Amendment	No - against repealing the 8th Amendment	Not sure	Will not vote	Refused
18-24	52%	27%	12%	8%	1%
25-34	53%	23%	17%	6%	1%
35-49	49%	26%	18%	5%	2%
50-64	37%	38%	18%	2%	5%
65+	30%	47%	17%	5%	1%

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Release date

May 2018

More information

Region

Europe, Ireland

Survey time period

May 2018

Supplementary notes

* This question was phrased by the source as follows: "There will be a referendum on 25th May to remove the ban on abortion currently in the constitution, known as the 8th Amendment. Will you vote Yes in favour of removing the 8th Amendment, or will you vote No to keep it?"

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