With abortion at a flashpoint in the U.S. and states practically or literally banning the procedure, we unpack how Ireland went from total ban to public acceptance. We learn how campaigners avoided a gauntlet of messaging missteps to deliver a decisive victory on an issue once considered too taboo to name.

In 1983, two-thirds of voters in Ireland chose to add the Eighth Amendment to their constitution and with it codify their prohibition on abortion – seemingly forever. And yet, in 2018, two-thirds of Irish voters repealed this amendment.

We explore how, despite deeply-entrenched religious doctrines and a well-funded opposition, the Together For Yes coalition was able to broach what many in Ireland saw as an untouchable topic by listening closely to their target audiences and rewriting the playbook on how we describe abortion and the people who have them. And we probe into the various pitfalls and messaging challenges inherent in not just debating abortion, but driving voters to turn out in support of it.