A motion on the abortion referendum will be moved at the next sitting of Parliament by the Chief Minister Fabian Picardo.

The motion sets out the proposed question to be put to the people of Gibraltar next March and details relating to the recognition of official campaigns and their funding. It also contains the proposal to extend the franchise to include 16 and 17 year olds.

Mr Picardo announced on the 12th July that the question of whether the Act legalising abortion in certain circumstances should be commenced would be put to a referendum. This referendum will take place on Thursday 19 March 2020.

The motion proposes that the question in next year’s referendum should be:

“Should the Crimes (Amendment) Act 2019, that defines the circumstances which would allow abortion in Gibraltar, come into force?”

Over 50% of the votes cast will be required for the result to be treated as qualifying for recognition as a winning lead.

The motion also proposes that an official YES campaign and an official NO campaign be recognised by the Referendum Administrator and funded on an equal basis in an amount not exceeding £50,000.

As previously announced, the Government also plans to extend the franchise to Registered Gibraltarians and British Citizens aged 16 years or over on the date of the referendum.