A 'Repeal the Eighth' rally will take place in Dublin this afternoon.
Organisers say they are going ahead with the event at the Central Bank, despite the Taoiseach's announcement of a referendum in 2018.
Overall there has been a muted response to news of the referendum. The Pro Life Campaign says it is disappointed the decision was made before the special Oireachtas committee reported its findings, while abortion rights campaigners say they will reserve judgement until they see the wording.
ROSA's Samantha Rodriguez says today's rally is more important than ever.
"We think the give in the Taoiseach's very conservative values when it comes to abortion, his statements that women that get raped should not be entitled to abortion, that what's likely to happen is a very conservative question will be put forth in the referendum and we as pro-choice activists want to make it clear that we won't stand for anything in relation to replacing the Eighth Amendment with something conservative without full repeal and full abortion rights is really what we're fighting for," she said.