Repeal, Defund, or Legalize: The Fight for Abortion in Ireland and the United States

Repeal, Defund, or Legalize: The Fight for Abortion in Ireland and the United States
by Tijana Mitrovic
February 16, 2017

Abortion remains a controversial topic in the West regardless of whether it is legal or not. While the United States Supreme Court Case Roe v Wade (1973) declared state laws banning or restricting first trimester abortions unconstitutional in the United States, in Ireland almost all cases of abortion have been constitutionally illegal since 1983.

While abortion was already illegal in Ireland before 1983, it was this year that a voter referendum enacted the Eighth Amendment which “gave ‘the right to life of the unborn’ equal status to ‘the right to life of the mother’ under the Constitution”. However, the labelling of abortion as a crime apparently enshrined in the constitution has not made the topic any less controversial, nor has it halted criticism from the domestic population or international sources.

Continued at source: McGill International Review: http://mironline.ca/repeal-defund-legalize-fight-abortion-ireland-united-states/

16.02.2017

The Irish government is compensating a woman after abortion trauma

By Rachel Thompson, Mashable
Dec 2, 2016

LONDON — The Irish government has for the first time compensated a woman for the trauma caused when she had to travel overseas to get an abortion.

Amanda Mellet was told when she was in the 21st week of pregnancy that the foetus had a fatal abnormality and it would not survive.

In the Republic of Ireland, a constitutional ban on abortion means that only women whose pregnancies put their lives at risk can have access to safe, legal abortion services. This constitutional ban means that abortion is not permitted in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities.

Mellet had to choose between carrying her pregnancy to term — knowing that the foetus would die in the womb or after birth — or travelling

[continued at link]
Source: Mashable.com

02.12.2016

Ireland offers £25,000 to woman forced to have abortion in the UK

In June, the UN Human Rights Committee ruled Ireland’s abortion laws subjected Amanda Mellet to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment

by Alexandra Sims
Thursday 1 December 2016, The Independent

Ireland has for the first time compensated a woman who was forced to travel to Britain to have an abortion.

The government agreed on Wednesday to offer Amanda Mellet €30,000 (£25,000 ) in compensation after she was forced to fly to England to terminate her pregnancy in 2011 when she was told at 21-weeks pregnant her baby carried a fatal foetal impairment and would not survive outside the womb.

[continued at link]
Source: The Independent

01.12.2016

travelling from Ireland

travelling to England

UN Human Rights Committee

Ireland compensates woman forced to travel to Britain for an abortion

Government agreed to pay compensation for trauma to Amanda Mellet after she was forced to obtain a termination of her pregnancy in England

Henry McDonald Ireland correspondent, The Guardian

Wednesday 30 November 2016

Ireland has for the first time in its history compensated a woman for the trauma caused by forcing her to travel to Britain for an abortion.

Pro-choice campaigners in the Republic said the Fine Gael-led minority government’s agreement on Wednesday to pay compensation to Amanda Mellet was highly significant.

Mellet and her husband James took their case all the way to the UN’s Human Rights Committee after the couple were forced to obtain a termination of her pregnancy in England.

[continued at link]
Source: The Guardian

30.11.2016