More money than sense

Today in Dublin, a new wave of abortion rights for Irish women was kicked off. Back in July, the excessively wealthy Youth Defence created a billboard campaign trying to maintain the status quo of keeping abortion illegal in Ireland, but it had the opposite effect. It catapulted abortion into the public discourse against the backdrop of ABC v Ireland.

Youth Defence underestimated the Irish public. The majority of the Irish population is young, educated, and progressive; who can see through the misleading information Youth Defence put out. This mobilised many young people to get involved in abortion rights campaigning. Attending some of these workshops people would introduce themselves as being veteran campaigners since the days of the X case, and before, but the vast majority are young people who were disgruntled by the Youth Defence poster campaign which motivated them to speak out.

I send my wholehearted congratulations to everyone involved in organising today's event, to those who showed up and participated, and to those who braved the cold at the counter-protest to the Vigil for Life. A dignified protest, modest in number, grass roots, committed, which is of much more benefit than dollars.

When dealing with Women's rights, the word 'manpower' may be inappropriate, 'Human Resources' may sound too corporate for a fledgling grass roots movement; but in order to present this movement in the most professional and ambitious manner, it's appropriate. Non-gender specific terminology is secondary.

Today I met many talented, intelligent, enthusiastic people who are passionate on bringing Ireland into the 21'st century regarding women's health.

We were heckled by supporters of Youth Defence, reminding me of the 5th Commandment but not see the irony of the 9th by buying into the rhetoric of the anti-choice movement.

I'm happy I made the choice to get involved, and I'm confident this campaign will flourish and get dividends, thanks to Youth Defence.