Yes or No? Immigrant communities add their voices to the abortion debate
‘Many of those who do not have the right to vote are involved in campaigning for both sides. Even though they can’t vote it will still affect them’
May 16, 2018
Sorcha Pollak
A Chinese woman who miscarried in a Dublin hospital. A Polish man whose former girlfriend aborted their child without telling him. A Brazilian woman whose sister was violently raped at a bus stop. A Muslim man who says a foetus becomes a baby once it develops a soul at 120 days.
In 1983 the vast majority of people canvassing for or against the Eighth Amendment were Irish. More than three decades on, tens of thousands of immigrant women are now affected by our abortion laws. While the more than 535,400 non-Irish nationals living in Ireland will not be eligible to vote in next week’s referendum, many have joined campaigns on both sides of the debate to add their voices to an issue which, as residents in this country, directly affects them.