The Irish Republic has voted to eliminate the ban on abortion from its constitution.

Abortion will soon be legal there.

This will directly help women in Northern Ireland, because it will be much easier and cheaper to go to the Irish Republic for an abortion than to travel to England as they currently must do. However, they demand legalization of abortion there next.

This change might have larger political effects. A few decades ago, anyone in Northern Ireland had a powerful reason to oppose uniting Northern Ireland with the Irish Republic: the latter's church-backed denial of human rights that related to marriage and sex. This reason no longer exists.