Irish Voters Approve Elimination of Blasphemy As A Crime

In a referendum held last Friday, voters in Ireland approved removal from Sec. 40.6.1 of the Irish Constitution the language that makes blasphemy a crime.  As reported by BBC News, the vote was 64.85% voting in favor of decriminalizing blasphemy, and 35.15% against.  The removal of the language from the Constitution permits the Oireachtas to amend or repeal Sec. 36 of the Defamation Act of 2009 in order to eliminate blasphemy as a crime. (Background on referendum). See prior related posting.  [Thanks to Law & Religion UK for the lead.]