All those who uphold and defend the sanctity of life from womb to tomb were upset to hear the news out of Ireland.

The country on Friday voted to remove restrictions on abortion, with a reported 66.4 percent of voters in favor of lifting strict bans on abortion.

“When it comes to the unborn, there is no geography,” former pregnancy center counselor and pro-life advocate Jean Purcell of Columbia, Maryland, told LifeZette this weekend. “I am just as sad for the futures of babies in the womb in Ireland as I would be if that vote had taken place here.”

Voters in Friday’s referendum were asked whether they wanted to repeal or retain a part of the constitution in Ireland known as the Eighth Amendment — which says an unborn child has the same right to life as a pregnant woman, said the BBC.

The “yes” vote paves the way for the Dáil (Irish Parliament) to legislate for change — almost certainly ushering in a much more socially liberal Ireland.

Currently, abortion is only permitted in the predominantly Catholic nation when a woman’s life is at risk, but not in cases of rape, incest, or fatal fetal abnormality.

There was a vocal majority that appealed to Irish voters to lift the restrictions on abortions.

“It looks like celebrity endorsements and liberal talking points have proved more popular than science and life,” noted Faithwire.com, “as exit polls appear to indicate a lopsided victory for the ‘yes’ side to repeal the 8th amendment and make abortion legal.”

“Together for Yes” co-director Orly O’Connor was jubilant over the poll results. “This is a monumental day for women in Ireland,” she told reporters. “This is about women taking their rightful place in Irish society.” (See her remarks in the video above.)

Said Purcell of Maryland to LifeZette, “Women confuse women’s rights with doing what is right, and they seem not to mind the deadly ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ aspect of their argument. For women to do exactly as they please, a baby must die. In any other societal issue, this would be unthinkable — that a life would be taken to provide a freedom.”

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The exit polling initially suggested the margin of victory for “yes” voters in the referendum would be 68 percent to 32 percent, reported the Irish Times, which termed it a “stunning victory” for the “yes” side after a long and heated campaign.

https://twitter.com/MariaLaoise/status/1000431594174337027

Age was a major factor, reported Faithwire.com, as the younger the voter, the higher the likelihood he or she elected to make abortion legal.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar hailed his country’s “quiet revolution” as early results pointed to a “resounding” vote for overturning the abortion ban.

Related: The Specifics: What Ireland’s Vote on Abortion Means

“The people have spoken,” he said after hearing exit polling numbers. “They have said we need a modern constitution for a modern country.”

Abortions won’t start right away, according to Faithwire.com. They will remain illegal until new legislation is passed, but that is almost a certainty with protections no longer in place.

Deirdre Reilly is a senior editor with LifeZette. Follow her on Twitter.

(photo credit, homepage and article images: March for Choice in Dublin… [1], [2], CC BY-SA 2.0, by William Murphy)