Ireland's yes voters celebrate a 'leap forward' in landmark vote on abortion

As she held her 18-month old daughter closely to her chest, Amanda Mellet summed up in words what many in Ireland were feeling Saturday after the nation's referendum on abortion passed by a landslide.
"It just means that women -- and the men who love the women of Ireland -- have spoken out and they've said times have to change. And they are going to change now," a tearful Mellet said at the Royal Dublin Society, where the count took place throughout the day.
A crisis pregnancy for Mellet in 2011 became an important step in the fight against Ireland's constitutional amendment that bans abortion in almost all circumstances. She was forced to choose between carrying a non-viable pregnancy to term, or travelling abroad for a termination. She chose the latter, and in June 2016, the UN's Human Rights Council ruled that the country's abortion regime subjected her to "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment," and called on the Irish government to reform its laws.

Now, voters in Ireland have had their say. Under a blistering sun in Dublin Castle across town, thousands of people chanted "Yes" as they waited for the final results to be announced. They arrived to celebrate early because an exit poll released by Ireland's national broadcaster RTE signaled that a victory was in store for yes voters -- who had advocated to repeal the amendment -- defying earlier projections that the race would be tight.
Scores of other abortion rights activists gathered across Dublin throughout the day. Dr. Ruth Cullen, a spokeswoman for the anti-abortion LoveBoth campaign, conceded defeat Saturday before the count had finished.