Friday, International Women's Day, Irish voters will take to the polls to decide whether changes to an 87-year-old document are necessary. The twin referendums question a reference to women's domestic duties and broaden the definition of the family.

Many women and men support the amendment change, while those opposed claim the changes are confusing and could lead to unintended consequences.

The first vote centers on a section of the Constitution that promises to protect the family as the primary unit of society. Voters are asked to remove the reference to marriage as the basis "on which the family is founded," and instead include a clause that states families can be founded "on marriage or other durable relationships." Should the law pass, it will become Ireland's 39th amendment to its constitution. 

The second issue would remove a reference to women's role in the home as key support to the state and delete a statement that "mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labor to the neglect of their duties in the home," in a proposed 40th amendment. Additionally, it would include a clause saying the state will strive to support "the provision of care by members of a family to one another."

But Why The Change All These Years Later?

Ireland's constitution dates back to 1937 when the nation officially became a republic. Naturally, Ireland has changed immensely since, transforming from a conservative Roman Catholic country where divorce and abortion are illegal to an equal, diverse, and socially liberal society.

According to The Associated Press, the proportion of residents who are Catholic fell from 94.9% in 1961 to 69% in 2022, as reported by the Central Statistics Office.

The social adaptions are demonstrated in a series of constitutional changes. Irish voters legalized divorce in a 1995 referendum, supported by same-sex marriage in a 2015 vote and a repealed ban on abortions in 2018.

In 2023, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announced on Women's International Day that the government would hold a referendum to embody gender equality and remove discriminatory language from the constitution. 

The purpose lies in removing "very old-fashioned language" and recognizing the realities of today's family life, said Varadkar, Ireland's first ethnic minority leader, who is in a same-sex relationship.

As election day nears, some voters remain undecided despite opinion polls revealing overwhelming support for the "yes" side on both votes.

All of Ireland's main political parties support the changes, including centrist government coalition partners Fianna Fail and Fine Gael and the biggest opposition party, Sinn Fein.

Tracy Carroll from County Meath in central Ireland, who cares full-time for her two children, said women had long been told "our place in society is in the home and looking after our children and our husbands."

"We've moved from that, but the constitution hasn't moved from that, and a woman's place is anywhere she wants it to be," she told Sky News.

In Dublin, nurse Una Ui Dhuinn said she voted no to both changes because "I thought it was too rushed."

"I felt we didn't get enough time to think about it and read up on it. So I felt, to be on the safe side, 'no, no' - no change," she said.

Caoimhe Doyle, a doctoral student, said she voted yes to changing the definition of family but no to the care amendment because "I don't think it was explained very well."

"There's a worry there that they're removing the burden on the state to take care of families," she said.

Varadkar, who insists the state is not abdicating its care responsibilities, explained rejecting the changes "would be a setback for the country."

"If there's a 'no' vote, on Saturday morning hundreds of thousands of children in Ireland will wake up to hear that Irish society has decided that their family isn't a constitutional family, isn't an equal family, just because their parents aren't married," Varadkar said this week. "If there's a 'yes' vote, we'll be saying as a society that all families are equal."