In June 2017,
Leo Varadkar, who became Taoiseach following his victory in the May
Fine Gael leadership election, signaled his intention to hold a referendum in 2018 on whether to replace Article 40.3.3.º of the Constitution, which provided "an equal right to life to the mother and the unborn." The Pro Life Campaign responded by expressing its disappointment that Varadkar had announced the decision prematurely before the special Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment had submitted its findings. The Pro Life Campaign was critical of the Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment's recommendations published in January, which they claimed were "exclusively focused on taking away all meaningful protection from unborn babies." They further criticised the committee for failing to hear the perspectives of "families who say their children are alive today because of the Eighth Amendment." Solicitor and PLC spokesperson
Cora Sherlock echoed this argument later in January in response to an
Irish Times opinion poll which found 56% of people supported changing the constitution while only 29% supported retaining the Eighth Amendment. She expressed confidence that the polls would reverse due to growing discussion "about families who have been saved by the Eighth Amendment." On 31 January, the Government formally decided to progress with holding a referendum in early summer. The date was later fixed for 24 May 2018. Reacting on 1 February to the decision, PLC spokesperson Dr Ruth Cullen stated that "what was being proposed was the removal of the legal protection from unborn babies and the provision of abortion on demand" and urged voters to reject the referendum's proposals. In the referendum on the
Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2018 to replace the provisions of Article 40.3.3º with a clause allowing for legislation on the termination of pregnancy, which passed by a two-thirds majority, the Pro Life Campaign organised the unsuccessful Love Both campaign. Love Both described itself as a "nationwide movement" and had key spokespeople involved. Love Both was distinguished from other No campaigns as it promoted a "pro-woman anti-abortion discourse." The campaign was distinguished by its emphasis on "talk[ing] passionately about human rights", and its presentation of young women, students, and "professionals in suits" as its public activist base, according to
The Guardian newspaper. From February, the PLC launched the "Love Both Roadshow", which was described as an "information campaign". It saw anti-abortion campaigners travel to various urban centres across Ireland until the end stages of the referendum campaign. The campaigners claimed that since 1983 approximately 100,000 people have been born who would not have been were it not for the Eighth Amendment. Many such events were held in towns during the referendum campaign and became a staple of the PLC's public activism. In March, PLC spokesperson Cora Sherlock condemned remarks from Fine Gael politician
Regina Doherty that the repeal campaign would "not accept a No vote in the upcoming referendum" as being "arrogant and deeply undemocratic". On 31 March spokespeople from the Love Both Roadshow in
Mullingar questioned whether "we can trust politicians to lead us on this" and complained that the No campaign were "not really getting a fair hearing" in the media. The Love Both and wider No campaign generated significant support within the
Fianna Fáil parliamentary party, with thirty-one TDs and Senators from the party appearing for a photo-call on 1 May at Merrion Square holding Love Both placards and urging the electorate to "vote No" and to "support women, protect babies, save lives." This contrasted with the pro-repeal position adopted by Fianna Fáil leader
Micheál Martin, who told the Dáil in January that whilst he was "instinctively on the pro-life side of the abortion debate", he was influenced to support a Yes vote owing to expert opinion and by the deliberations of both the Citizens' Assembly and the Oireachtas Committee. Love Both launched its "official" referendum campaign at the Alex Hotel, Dublin on 18 April 2018. The event was attended by six TDs:
Peter Fitzpatrick,
Éamon Ó Cuív,
Kevin O'Keefe,
Declan Breathnach,
Mattie McGrath and
Michael Healy-Rae. The campaign concentrated its messaging on characterising the proposal as "extreme", amounting to "abortion on demand" and being similar to the British abortion law. In May, a further six regional Love Both rallies took place across the country, with a final rally in Merrion Square, Dublin attracting thousands of participants. The final rally heard speeches from Caroline Simons, legal advisor to Love Both, and from Dr Andrew O'Regan of the "Medical Alliance for the 8th" campaign. At an event hosted by Love Both's Roadshow in
Monaghan on 10 May, former
UCD Students' Union President and Love Both spokesperson, Katie Ascough, told her audience that a Yes vote would remove the obligation for the Government to go directly to the people through a referendum on issues related to abortion and "they would be free to make whatever laws they want." On 22 May controversy was generated when the PLC spokesperson Cora Sherlock "pulled out" of an
RTÉ Prime Time debate scheduled for that evening, due to the refusal of RTÉ to swap out Sherlock for
Maria Steen, following the latter's appearance on a
Claire Byrne Live debate the previous week where she "had impressed" in her performance. The controversy about the selection of No campaign debaters was described as a "Mexican stand-off" at
Montrose following Sherlock's withdrawal. Eventually, the Sinn Féin TD
Peadar Tóibín participated in a head-to-head debate with
Minister for Health,
Simon Harris, which aired on the evening of 22 May. The following day, RTÉ's handling of the debate was criticised by the Love Both campaign and the state broadcaster was accused of "failing to achieve balance on the panel" due to their decision to invite the pro-repeal Prof Mary Higgins onto a panel debate but failed to invite a medic from the No side. The campaign described this as "utterly unacceptable". RTÉ defended its handling of the debate as being "fair and equitable". In the last stages of the referendum, the PLC and Love Both concentrated on urging voters to reject the referendum on the basis that the proposed abortion legislation was "extremist". On 23 May, the day before the poll, Cora Sherlock described the referendum as giving the Government "a blank cheque to write whatever abortion law it wants, no matter how extreme." Following the vote on 24 May and the release of an exit poll which predicted a "landslide victory for the Yes side", Love Both expressed the view that the result represented "a very sad day for Ireland" and called on Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to include restrictions within any future abortion legislation. In the aftermath of their referendum defeat, Love Both spokesperson in Cork, Maeve O'Hanlon, said the group would campaign "to keep the number of abortions low". PLC spokesperson Ruth Cullen pledged to hold Varadkar "to his promise that repeal would only lead to abortion in very restrictive circumstances." Following the referendum defeat, the Love Both campaign largely folded back into the Pro Life Campaign.
Love Both's social media strategy Love Both adopted a social media strategy which produced videos that foregrounded "young women representing different Irish counties" to counteract an impression that anti-abortion voices were "restricted to older people". Social media advertising policies became a contentious aspect of the campaign, with
Facebook taking steps to prevent efforts to "disrupt the referendum with disinformation." On 6 April, a Love Both spokesperson said they were "wary of Facebook introducing 'censorship' during the referendum". In May,
Google announced a ban on all ads relating to the referendum and Facebook banned all foreign advertising on the issue.
The Guardian noted that "the most obvious difference between the two sides of the campaign" was that No campaign ads used "emotional language" compared with the more "legalistic tone" of the Yes campaign ads. == March for Life ==