Campaigners rest their case on abortion issue, for now

Campaigning ended today ahead of Wednesday's abortion referendum

Campaigning ended today ahead of Wednesday's abortion referendum. While the morning's newspapers will contain stories of today's events, live-news media such as radio, television and websites will tomorrow observe the traditional 24-hour moratorium on coverage.

The tired public and emotional campaigners will both be glad of tomorrow's respite. Voters are confused by the arguments and the constant media bombardment of information; while the more both lobbies tried to explain their case the deeper the morass became.

As a result, opinion polls show the outcome is too close to call. Yes, No and Don't Know have been neck-and-neck in the polls for most of the campaign and voter turn out is likely to be crucial.

While the Yes vote has consistently showed marginally ahead of the No vote, both sides have been cautious about predicting the result following last year's Nice Treaty referendum in which the outcome defied the poll predictions.

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The Taoiseach Mr Ahern used the last day of the campaign to warn that a rejection of his proposals will lead to a liberal abortion regime, and while Fine Gael called on women in particular to vote No, Labour reminded men that the issue was of relevance to them.

Alliance for a No Vote complained of the poor quality of information while the Pro-Life Campaign complained of scaremongering in relation to the lives of women.

While the Government's proposals have met with the approval of the Catholic church, many Protestant clerics have argued against the amendment. And voter confusion has been exacerbated by the divisions within the medical and legal professions.

Irrespective of Wednesday's outcome, and the fatigue experienced by voters and campaigners alike, the likelihood is that the issue will have the stamina for a few more rounds - either in the courts or in the Dáil.