A number of weeks ago, a number of anti abortion activists showed up to my local high school with graphic signs of premature babies and called on for women to “stop the murder of innocent unborn humans”. This is infuriated me for it was a group composed of mostly men telling me, a strong independent women what to do with my body and tried to shame me for having complete control over my body in my country of Canada. Luckily, I do live in Canada, a country that does not turn its back on women’s health and I have autonomy from birth to do what I want with my body, including having an abortion, but sadly there are still countries in the world that do not have these rights for women, and today, I will take you to one of these countries.
Ireland, as you may know is a small yet very important European nation that has numerous of famous sites and people stemming from its roots, but this seemingly pleasing island has the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe, and some of the most in the world. The eighth amendment gives equal right to life to the unborn, and terminating a pregnancy is only allowed in extremely rare circumstances where the mother’s life is in danger. This law was added to the constitution in the early 1980s, with a large majority voting in favor of it in a national referendum. The eighth amendment was added to the constitution at a time when social conservatives in the country were especially energized by changing social mores.
Over 30 years on, and social mores in Irish society are much changed. With an increasingly secular population, the influence of the Catholic Church has waned. Younger generations have been pushing much of the change in Ireland, away from its conservative Catholic past to a more progressive future. Last year, Ireland became the first country in the world to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote. It was voted in by an overwhelming majority and was seen as a dismantling of the control of the Catholic Church. Over 30 years on, more and more people are standing up to the barbaric views of the male dominated government, holding protests almost every weekend and demanding justice for women like Savita Halappanavar, an India-born woman who was living and working in Ireland, was 17 weeks pregnant in 2012 when she was admitted to hospital and found to be miscarrying. She requested a termination but was refused because there was still a fetal heartbeat and therefore it was not allowed under Irish law. Due to complications she developed severe sepsis and died in intensive care. An expert witness at the inquest into her death said she mostly likely would have lived if she had been given a termination as she had requested.
Denying abortions to the women of Ireland is killing the women of Ireland.
For years, women in Ireland have been forced to travel to the United Kingdom and further if they wish to terminate a pregnancy. It has been confirmed that between January 1980 and December 2015, at least 166,951 women have travelled from Ireland to another country to seek an abortion. An average of 10 Irish women a day travel to the UK to seek an abortion. This number could be extortionately higher due to the fact that the women may not give their real address. Leaving Ireland results in the lack of a proper aftercare system, a financial burden between flights, somewhere to stay etc. without even mentioning the trauma both physically and emotionally of having an abortion in an unfamiliar country. This opinion that having an abortion is shameful and must be shunned needs to be eradicated. It is something that must be discussed and must be brought to the political agenda.
Another example of how damaging this law is to the women of Ireland is of a 16 year old girl who became pregnant and demanded an abortion, but instead of reeving the abortion, she was locked up in a psychiatric hospital after she was deemed “suicidal”, even though it was confirmed by five psychiatrists that she was not suicidal. She was released three weeks later and gave birth to a baby that did not have to be born.
Sadly the story of the 16 year old girl is not uncommon, it is a everyday problem in the everyday lives of Irish women.
It is 2017 and it is time for women to be treated as real people in society rather than just vessels that carry children. Abortion rates will stay the same whether the 8th is repealed or not. You can never ban abortions, you can only ban safe abortions.
If you wish to help these women fighting to repeal the eight, please check out the “REPEAL” project or sign the petition and donate at the “Abortion Rights Campaign” Or punch whoever tries to dictate how your body should be cared for 🙂
