In landslide referendum, Ireland votes to keep 'woman' in constitution

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This is just an excerpt from The Ezra Levant Show. To see new, ad-free episodes, which air Monday - Friday @ 8 p.m. ET | 6 p.m. MT, become a subscriber to RebelNews+. This episode originally aired on March 17, 2024.

On last Friday's episode of The Ezra Levant Show, Ezra was joined by Ben Scallan, correspondent for Gript Media, to discuss the recent Irish referendum in which it was proposed that the word "mother" should be removed from the Irish constitution.

Article 41 of the Irish constitution reads, in part, "The state shall therefore endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in Labor to the neglect of their duties in the home." The constitution also recognizes women's contribution to the home and says that it provides a good the state cannot achieve alone. 

"In the modern context and in the view of Irish politicians, this was seen as somehow oppressive or relegating women to a domestic role," Ben explained. "Like it's almost telling them, oh, women need to stay in the kitchen and they shouldn't work, which is absolutely not what the text says."

The goal of the referendum was to make these two passages gender-neutral, referring to 'family members' who care for each other rather than the specific contributions of women and mothers. 

The vote was held on International Women's Day as progressives likely thought this would be a comfortable win. But both proposed amendments were defeated in a landslide, with 67% voting against the family referendum and 74% voting against the care referendum.

"If I had to explain the Irish political system to a foreign audience and maybe in an American context, the current government we have is basically like the Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi wing of the Democratic Party," Ben explained. "And then the opposition, the Sinn Fein type parties are like the AOC, Rashida Tlaib branch of the Democratic Party." 

"That's the range, that's the Overton window you're dealing with, where it's just left to radical left. And so all of them put their entire weight behind this thing and it seems like the voters have rejected them all."