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.

The League of Extraordinary Gobshites have Farted in my General Direction

After seeing this unintentionally funny tweet from Ireland Stand Up.....

RT @irelandstandup Abortion mills - the booming busines in the sale of baby body parts << I'll have a leg, side of chips and coke #vinb
— Steve Duggan (@DugSciof) November 27, 2012

I couldn't resist.

@dugsciof yes you're very funny, it was for those doctors too when they fled for their lives because of death threats, one of them left
— IrelandStandUp (@IrelandStandUp) November 27, 2012

@dugsciof behind his wife who was pregnant with twins, he has never seen them, so if you want to make crass jokes, you really have a sick
— IrelandStandUp (@IrelandStandUp) November 27, 2012

@dugsciof sense of humour, and have never had to endure years of living in an asylum centre for standing up for your beliefs
— IrelandStandUp (@IrelandStandUp) November 27, 2012

WOW! Who do these people really stand up for??

It's Time to Legislate on X

Abortion has always been a polarising topic in Irish public life, but unless you've been living under a rock the past few weeks, it's been thrust back into the limelight after the tragic death of 31 year old Savita Halappanavar, a Dentist living in Galway. Savita presented herself in A&E at Galway University Hospital complaining of back pain but was found to be miscarrying after being 17 weeks pregnant. Spending 3 days in agony she requested an abortion multiple times but was denied as the foetus still had a heartbeat. After the foetus was finally induced, Savita developed septicaemia and was dead within a week.

20 Years ago the Supreme Court ruled that abortion is permissible when there is a substantial risk to the life of the mother after the Attorney General issued an injunction to prohibit a suicidal raped teenager travelling to the UK to access an abortion. This teenager known as "Girl X" is now older than Savita, and that Supreme Court ruling has never been legislated upon. No government has had the moral or ethical courage to legislate on that Supreme Court ruling, which frankly does not go far enough. Doctors are unable to perform their duty of care to the patient, as they could not act within the scope of the law as there was no immediate threat to Savita's life, however there was a real threat to her health. Savita's cervix was dilated during her 3 day agonising miscarriage leaving her prone to infection. Under Ireland's archaic laws on abortion, the right to life of the unborn undermined the right to life, and bodily integrity of the mother.

#savita Stop using savita to push an abortion agenda. UCHG staff says she died from a pre-exisiting condition. #showsomerespect
— Harlice Surel (@HarliceSurel) November 26, 2012

Even the anti-choice movement are jumping on this latest case to spread lies and mis-information. Savita's husband Praveen contacted Galway Pro-Choice seeking advice on going public with this case, and to campaign on legislation for X. The campaign to date has been respectful and dignified in comparison to the inflammatory hysteria peddled by pro-lifers we've become so accustomed to in recent years.

The swift slippery slope to abortion-on-demand in Britain should be forefront in the Irish debate on legislating for the disastrous X ruling
— Richard Waghorne (@richardwaghorne) November 22, 2012

Even the old chestnut of Abortion on Demand is getting thrown around, personally I see nothing wrong with that. We had a miscarrying woman in agony demanding an abortion which was denied. A pregnant cancer patient demanded an abortion which was denied and had to travel to the UK as her life was deemed not to be in immediate danger. Due to problems having her passport renewed, her cancer treatment was delayed. Do not be fooled, anti-choice rhetoric muddies the water and derails the argument, which is what they want.

I have my reservations with surgical abortion, but upon reflection I may feel the same way about any high-intervention treatment. In a lot of cases, a medical abortion might be the best option for many Irish women if legislators allowed for it, where a GP can prescribe medication to terminate a foetus up to 10 weeks. It would certainly prevent women from ordering dodgy pills online, having to travel to the UK, or worse still - back alley coat-hanger abortions, ensuring the safety of Irish women.

Irish women who require a termination have their human rights violated. They are denied, what can often be a necessary treatment in their own country; making them unequal before the law, violates right to life and bodily integrity. In 2012 we should no longer be arguing about this in Ireland, and making urgent demands on the government to finally update and legislate upon a 20 year old Supreme Court Ruling.