https://socialistaction.org/2018/10/19/ireland-will-offer-free-abortions/
Ireland will offer free abortions
/ 3 days ago
abortion-ireland-5-24-18By LISA LUINENBURG
In a stunning victory for women, Ireland officially removed its nearly
total ban on abortions in late September. The change was a result of a
referendum on May 25 of this year, in which 66.4% of voters (to 33.6%
against) overwhelmingly voted for a repeal of the Eighth Amendment to
the Constitution, which banned abortions in nearly all cases throughout
the country.
Although those in favor of the repeal were from both urban and rural
areas, they were mostly younger, with people over 65 being the only
group to reject the repeal.
Abortions have been illegal in Ireland for a long time, mostly under the
strong influence of the Catholic Church. However, the Eighth Amendment
was put into place through a public referendum in 1983, in a bid to
solidify the country’s anti-abortion position after the Roe v. Wade
decision legalized abortions in the U.S. in the 1970s. The restrictive
amendment forced many women in Ireland (those who could afford it, that
is) to travel abroad to gain access to abortions. In 2016 alone, 3265
Irish women traveled to the U.K. to have an abortion.
Since the 1990s, the Catholic Church’s social and political hold has
been loosening, as Ireland has passed laws granting easier access to
divorce, contraception, and same-sex marriage.
Gail McElroy, a professor of politics at Trinity College in Dublin, told
The New York Times after the May 25 referendum, “It is the final nail in
the coffin for them. They’re no longer the pillar of society, and their
hopes of re-establishing themselves are gone.”
Simon Harris, the Health Minister in Ireland, recently announced that
the plan is for abortion services in Ireland to be free.
Harris explained to a reporter, “I’ve said from the start that I don’t
want cost to be a barrier, because if cost is a barrier, you get into a
situation where one of two things could happen: you see private clinics
develop—we don’t want that to happen in Ireland, we want this to be part
of an integrated public health service—and secondly, you can see people
having to continue to travel.”
The next phase of the process will be for Harris to submit a new law
governing abortion to the Irish lawmakers, which could go into effect by
next year. The legislative phase always presents the risk of concessions
that have been won by the working class to be watered down, so it will
be important for the Irish people to continue to pressure for free
access to abortions.
NPR reporter Debbie Elliot cited draft legislation earlier in the year,
which would allow elective abortions up to 12 weeks and limited access
up to the 23rd week of pregnancy, a far cry from a similar law in
Britain, which allows abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. And the
restriction on abortions unless the mother’s life is at risk remains in
effect in Northern Ireland.
Nonetheless, the repeal of the abortion ban in Ireland represents a
major step forward for women in Ireland and everywhere else who continue
to struggle for their right to control and limit their own reproductive
processes.
Photo: Claire Doherty / AP
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October 19, 2018 in Ireland, Women's Liberation.
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_________________________________________________________________
Isaac Asimov
“Don't you believe in flying saucers, they ask me? Don't you believe in
telepathy? — in ancient astronauts? — in the Bermuda triangle? — in life after
death?
No, I reply. No, no, no, no, and again no.
One person recently, goaded into desperation by the litany of unrelieved negation, burst
out "Don't you believe in anything?"
Yes", I said. "I believe in evidence. I believe in observation, measurement,
and reasoning, confirmed by independent observers. I'll believe anything, no matter how
wild and ridiculous, if there is evidence for it. The wilder and more ridiculous
something is, however, the firmer and more solid the evidence will have to be.”
― Isaac Asimov
