Leo Varadkar – finally! – says he wants to see Irish abortion law ‘changed and liberalised’

The Taoiseach made the comments in an interview with the BBC.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar says that he will campaign for more liberalised abortion laws in Ireland ahead of a referendum on the repeal of the 8th Amendment. In an interview with BBC Radio 4 in Davos, where Varadkar has been attending the World Economic Forum, the Taoiseach was asked if he will be campaigning for the abortion laws in Ireland to be relaxed. "I'll be campaigning for them to be changed and to be liberalised, yes," Varadkar responded. Ahead of a special cabinet meeting due to take place next week on the terms of the referendum on the 8th Amendment, Varadkar said: "We will have that referendum, hopefully in the summer and we should be in a position to make a decision on that in Government next week." During the course of the interview, the Taoiseach was asked about his personal views on the abortion issue and if his stance had changed since he said he was pro-life in the Dáil in 2014. Varadkar had also said that he felt the 8th Amendment was “too restrictive”. "I suppose in that period I think it's fair to say that my own views on this matter have evolved but I think sometimes that term pro-life and pro-choice can be misunderstood, you know, I think even people who are in favour of abortion in certain circumstances are pro-life, you know,” he replied. “I still believe in life but I understand that there are circumstances under which pregnancies can't continue." Asked if he was pro-choice, the Taoiseach responded: "What do those words even mean? Every single person I know who says they're pro-choice believes in some sort of restriction. “These terms pro-life and pro-choice don't really comprehend the complexity of this issue, which is a very private and personal one and one I think that contains a lot of grey areas."