(Photo: Getty/iStock)The Irish government has approved controversial plans to give women paid leave after undergoing an abortion. Abortion is a relatively new phenomenon in the Republic of Ireland. It was legalised following a referendum in 2018 in which two thirds of voters declared their support. Prior to the referendum the number of legal abortions in the Republic of Ireland was always in the low double digits. Now the government is proposing that women who have had an abortion before 12 weeks, or who have suffered a miscarriage before 23 weeks, be entitled to paid leave.