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Polls to open in Irish family and care referendums

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On Friday, Irish voters will participate in two referendums concerning changes to the country’s constitution regarding family and care.

One referendum asks whether to broaden the definition of family to include non-marital relationships. The other referendum seeks to remove language regarding the role of women in the home and replace it with gender-neutral language recognizing care provided by family members.

Voters will receive two ballots: a white one for the family referendum and a green one for the care referendum. The family referendum proposes adding language to extend constitutional protections to various family structures, while the care referendum aims to replace gender-specific language with inclusive language regarding care provision.

The current constitution only protects families based on marriage, but if the family referendum is passed, all family units would receive equal constitutional rights. Similarly, the care referendum aims to update language and recognition of care provision within families.

Voting eligibility requires being 18 or older, an Irish citizen, registered to vote, and residing in Ireland. Polls will be open from 07:00 to 22:00 local time on Friday. The government scheduled these referendums to coincide with International Women’s Day. Counting of votes will commence on Saturday morning.

In Ireland, a referendum is necessary for any proposed changes to the constitution, which has undergone various amendments since its ratification in 1937, including legalizing same-sex marriage in 2015 and repealing the abortion ban in 2018.

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French Senate backs enshrining right to abortion in constitution

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The French Senate has overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to solidify women’s right to abortion, following a similar endorsement by the National Assembly. The vote, with 267 in favor and 50 against, reflects growing pressure to strengthen abortion rights amidst concerns over erosion in allied nations like the US and Poland.

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a special joint session of both houses of parliament, away from Paris, in Versailles, to vote on the amendment. If passed with a three-fifths majority, a referendum won’t be necessary. An Ifop poll from November 2022 indicated strong public support, with 86% favoring the amendment.

While all major political parties in France support abortion rights, there was a revision in the language of the amendment, changing from endorsing the “right” to abortion to advocating for the “freedom” to have one. This adjustment, calling for “guaranteed freedom,” was approved by the Senate.

President Macron has pledged to make women’s freedom to choose abortion “irreversible” by enshrining it in the constitution. Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti hailed the move as historic, positioning France as the first country to constitutionally protect women’s freedom in deciding about their bodies.

Conservative senators expressed feeling pressured to approve the amendment, with one anonymously stating concerns about familial repercussions if she voted against it.

The backdrop to this decision includes ongoing debates in the US, where abortion rights have been challenged, leading to restrictions in many states, and in Poland, where a near-total ban on abortion was imposed by the Constitutional Court in 2020.

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Czech Republic MPs vote to tighten gun laws

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The Czech Republic has passed an amendment to its gun legislation, following the recent mass shooting at Charles University. The amendment, proposed prior to the incident, still needs approval from the senate and the president and won’t be effective until 2026. Despite being considered insufficiently transformative, the amendment aims to address loopholes that allowed the shooter, a licensed gun user, to amass eight legally-owned weapons, including an AR-10 semi-automatic assault rifle.

The shooter, a 24-year-old graduate student with a history of depression, killed 14 people on campus. The legal changes propose an updated online register of guns and owners accessible to doctors, including psychiatrists. Gun shops will be obligated to report suspicious purchases, and the system will flag individuals acquiring numerous weapons. Police will gain the authority to seize weapons preventatively, especially if the owners make threats on social media, a power currently unavailable to them.

However, mandatory psychological tests for gun licenses, common in other countries, will not be enforced. Czech doctors can request such tests but are not obligated to do so before signing license applications. The legislation may undergo further amendments in parliament, but the fundamental right to bear arms for self-defense, added to the constitution in 2021 amid EU attempts to restrict weapon possession, is unlikely to be altered. With over 300,000 licensed gun owners and a million guns in the country, the Czech Republic, known for hunting and biathlon, has a majority of licenses granted for personal protection rather than sports or hunting purposes. The necessity of such personal protection in cities like Prague and Brno remains unclear in one of Europe’s safest countries.

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