Abortion is possibly the most divisive issue regarding human rights and women’s rights in every country. Bearing this in mind we must try to hold an open mind to arguments and base our viewson Facts, an understanding of human nature, science and empathy. We all would agree the idea of terminating a life is hugely emotive; bearing this in mind we can probably all agree the vast majority of women do not end a pregnancy with a light heart. The reality is that women have had terminations for thousands of years and this will continue into the future. 4000 women every year in Ireland will be forced out of their own country to have a termination in Britain. The reasons for ending a pregnancy are so vast, so complex and ultimately every single case has its own unique set of factors that can include serious mental health issues, rape and incest, domestic violence, poverty, financial constraints, societal and cultural reasons (stigma of being a single parent), current responsibilities to the existing family, interference with education, underage pregnancies, women that have raised there family’s and simply feel they are too old to have more children, foetal abnormalities, and incompatibility with life outside the womb. Every single one of these issues is hugely complex and highly specialized experts with years of training are required to deal and understand each one, however ultimately the best expert is the women in every situation.
“You can always give the baby away”
Firstly to make a woman act as an incubator for a child against her wishes is a violation of her human rights, not to mention the long term damage and destruction this will cause to a woman’s mental health. The reality is that the state has a shameful history regarding children in care with one child dying in state care every 2 weeks. Children in care do not receive the basic nurture, love and stability that is fundamental to a child’s development and this guarantees a continuous cycle of poverty, depravation and ultimately another generation of unwanted children left to rot on the fringes of society.
Not on my doorstep!
Every year 4000 women are forced to leave Ireland to have a termination in Britain. A recent RTE documentary showed the horrific stories of women bleeding in a toilet on a Ryanair plane at 36 thousand feet. The minimum we can do is offer woman of Ireland is a safe humane environment where they can have a termination without risking their life’s. A recent U.N report stated that there currently is not a single woman of child bearing age in Ireland that has had a democratic say regarding the control of her own body. By voting to repeal the8 th amendment(the right of the unborn child being equal to that of the mother)You are not voting to end life ,you are giving your consent for other women to have the basic human right make a choice. As a man who is in a stable relationship with resources to bring up a child and space to give love to that child my partner and me would not want to seek a termination, however just because I’m fortunate enough to be living in a privileged position I have no entitlement to tell a 50 year old women in poverty who is a victim of domestic violence she must not have a termination.
Amnesty international recently pointed out Ireland is the only country in the democratic world that has abortion outlawed in its constitution and out of the 28 countries in the EU only Ireland and Malta have deemed abortion illegal with a max prison sentence of 14 years. One day when we have a society where there is adequate resources, universal access to childcare and education, no stigma, gender equality, no such thing as male privilege, maybe less people will need to have a termination but none the less all women should always have the ultimate control of their body withouta judgmental society adding to their ordeal. REPEAL THE 8TH NOW!
PEADAR HOPKINS, PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT SLIGO.