Ireland’s yes voters celebrate a ‘leap forward’ in landmark vote on abortion

Ireland's yes voters celebrate a 'leap forward' in landmark vote on abortion

By Kara Fox, CNN
Video by Muhammad Darwish, CNN
Sat May 26, 2018

Dublin (CNN)As she held her 18-month old daughter closely to her chest, Amanda Mellet summed up in words what many in Ireland were feeling Saturday after the nation's referendum on abortion passed by a landslide.

"It just means that women -- and the men who love the women of Ireland -- have spoken out and they've said times have to change. And they are going to change now," a tearful Mellet said at the Royal Dublin Society, where the count took place throughout the day.

Continued; https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/26/europe/ireland-abortion-referendum-yes-vote-reaction-intl/index.html

We can topple Ireland’s ludicrous abortion law, but it’s not a done deal

We can topple Ireland’s ludicrous abortion law, but it’s not a done deal
The referendum to ‘repeal the 8th’ is a reward for brave campaigning by Irish women. But unlike the same-sex marriage vote, we face huge political hostility

Emer O'Toole
Wednesday 27 September 2017 14.17

It is 34 years since the Irish people voted to amend the constitution to designate the right to life of the “unborn” as equal to that of a pregnant woman, effectively banning abortion. And for 34 years Irish feminists and their allies have been campaigning to end the shame and suffering that have been the fruits of our holy eighth amendment.

In 2011 the Abortion Rights Campaign organised its first annual March for Choice in Dublin. The police told the media that only 500 people had attended, a figure easily contradicted by video evidence. The national press barely blinked at us. The following year the then taoiseach, Enda Kenny, told Time magazine that abortion was “not of priority” for his government. We were not on the radar.

Continued at source: The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/27/ireland-abortion-referendum-not-done-deal-repeal-the-8th-political-hostility

U.N. Committee: Criminalization of Abortion in Ireland Violates Woman’s Human Rights

U.N. Committee: Criminalization of Abortion in Ireland Violates Woman's Human Rights
New Decision Marks Second Time the U.N. Human Rights Committee Calls for Abortion Law Reform in Ireland

06.13.17 - (PRESS RELEASE) The United Nations Human Rights Committee has just ruled for the second time that Ireland’s abortion laws subjected a woman to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. This new decision recognizes yet again that prohibiting abortion violates women’s human rights and calls on Ireland to reform its laws.

The U.N. Committee ruled in favor of Siobhán Whelan, who was denied access to abortion services in Ireland following a diagnosis of a fatal fetal impairment. The Committee held that Ireland must provide Ms. Whelan with reparations for the harm she suffered and reform its laws to ensure other women do not continue to face similar violations. The Committee instructed Ireland to legalize abortion and provide effective, timely and accessible abortion services in Ireland.

Continued at source: Center for Reproductive Rights: https://www.reproductiverights.org/press-room/un-committee-criminalization-of-abortion-in-ireland-violates-womans-human-rights-0

Irish abortion law violated woman’s human rights, UN says

Siobhan Whelan forced to travel to UK for abortion after fatal foetal abnormality diagnosis

June 13, 2017
Paul Cullen

A United Nations committee has found Ireland violated the human rights of a woman who had to travel to Britain for an abortion after her baby was diagnosed with a fatal foetal abnormality.
The UN human rights committee has told the State to pay compensation to the woman, Siobhan Whelan, and to provide psychological treatment to her.

Continued at source: Irish Times: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/irish-abortion-law-violated-woman-s-human-rights-un-says-1.3118145

UN repeats criticism of Ireland’s ‘cruel and inhumane’ abortion laws

UN repeats criticism of Ireland's 'cruel and inhumane' abortion laws

Committee finds in favour of Siobhán Whelan, who was denied a termination despite fatal foetal syndrome diagnosis

Henry McDonald Ireland correspondent

Tuesday 13 June 2017

The United Nations has again ruled that Ireland’s abortion laws have subjected a woman to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.

It is the second time in 12 months that the UN’s human rights committee has denounced the abortion rules in the Irish Republic, which denies women with fatal foetal abnormalities the right to terminate pregnancies.

Continued at source: The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/13/un-denounces-ireland-abortion-laws-as-cruel-and-inhumane-again

How a UN Committee’s Ruling on Abortion in Ireland Holds Countries Accountable

How a UN Committee’s Ruling on Abortion in Ireland Holds Countries Accountable

Jan 27, 2017, 6:02pm Jamie J. Hagen

The case of Amanda Mellet, who had to leave Ireland to get an abortion due to a fatal fetal condition, has created a roadmap for advocates to call out the prohibition and criminalization of abortion by any country as a violation of human rights.

By now, the stories of people denied access to abortion in Ireland and facing financial, physical, and emotional hardships as a result are likely well known to reproductive rights advocates. Last year, for the first time, one Irish woman took it upon herself to appeal to the United Nations that, in being denied access to a safe and affordable abortion, her human rights were violated by the constitution of her home nation. The UN Human Rights Committee agreed that she faced “discrimination and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment” because of Ireland’s ban on most abortions; in response, Ireland has paid her financial reparations. Now, her case has created a roadmap for advocates to call out the prohibition and criminalization of abortion by any country as a violation of human rights.

[continued at link]
Source, Rewire: https://rewire.news/article/2017/01/27/how-a-un-committees-ruling-on-abortion-in-ireland-holds-countries-accountable/

Ireland: Citizens’ Assembly hears neo-natal screening poses ethical issues

40 Irish women had abortions after tests showed baby would have Down Syndrome, meeting told
Jan 7, 2016
by Ronan McGreevy, Irish Times

New neo-natal screenings which can detect chromosomal disorders such as Down Syndrome pose ethical issues for society, the Citizens’ Assembly has been told.

The Citizens’ Assembly is meeting in Malahide this weekend to discuss possible changes to the law on abortion.

The members are hearing from experts on the medical, legal and ethical issues raised by fatal and other foetal abnormalities and how they relate to the human rights of women and the current constitutional protection of the unborn.

[continued at link]
Source: Irish Times

UN abortion case will only be settled “when the Irish government undertakes reforms”

30 Oct 2016
by Fionnuala Jones

Amanda Mellet took a case after she travelled to the UK for an abortion after her baby was diagnosed with a fatal foetal abnormality

The lawyer representing a woman who took a case to the United Nations over Ireland's abortion laws, says the case will only be settled when the Irish government undertakes the necessary reforms.

[continued at link]
Source: Newstalk.com

30.10.2016

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News

Amanda Mellett

fatal fetal abnormality

Leah Hoctor

UN Human Rights Committee

Ireland Grapples with the Thorny Issue of Repealing an Abortion Ban

Jennifer Duggan / Dublin, Ireland @jenniduggan
Time.com

October 27, 2016

A young, secular population helped pass same-sex marriage in Ireland last year and wants abortion restrictions overturned — but the fight is proving bitterly divisive

Ninety-nine Irish citizens from across the country travelled to the center of Dublin on a recent Saturday to begin an unusual exercise in democracy. Known as the Citizens’ Assembly, the randomly selected group has been tasked with discussing and making recommendations on one of the country’s most contentious and politically and socially divisive issues — its restrictive abortion laws.

Sitting in rows amid gold columns in the royal blue grandeur of the hall where Ireland’s presidents are inaugurated, they were thanked by Taoiseach [Prime Minister] Enda Kenny for their “civic generosity and courage” for taking part in the forum that will consider a matter “deeply complex, hugely challenging and profoundly ethical.”

[continued at link]
Source: Time.com

27.10.2016

Ireland: State rejects UN demand on abortion

Ellen Coyne

September 24 2016, The Times

The government is disregarding its human rights obligations by not legislating for access to abortion despite being advised to do so by several UN committees, Brendan Howlin has said.

The state yesterday rejected a recommendation from a UN review body to repeal the Eighth Amendment, which equates the life of a woman with that of her foetus.

Last May Frances Fitzgerald appeared before the UN’s universal periodic review committee, where successive governments called on Ireland to comply with international human rights standards by making abortion accessible to women in cases of rape, incest and fatal foetal abnormalities.

[continued at link]
Source: The Times

24.09.2016