Goretti Horgan: Now that abortion is legal, services need to be available across the region
26 May, 2020
Goretti Horgan
THE redrafted regulations governing the provision of abortion in the north of Ireland were laid at Westminster on Wednesday May 13.
These regulations have been described as "extreme". In fact, they are not at all extreme but mirror the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly in the south in relation to the kind of abortion law that should be available.
Some GPs 'intimidated' outside practices providing abortion services 'every single day'
By Joyce Fegan
Saturday, May 04, 2019
Some GPs providing abortions services are being "intimidated" outside their practice "every single day." Since the Eighth Amendment was repealed and legislation came into force, 317 GPs have been contracted to provide termination of pregnancy (ToP) services in Ireland, as of January 2.
"Some of our colleagues, of all opinions, have been under a lot of pressure and it's been difficult, but particularly colleagues who have decided to conscientiously support this service. Some of them have been under immense pressure locally," said Dr Mark Murphy, at the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP)'s annual conference this evening.
Do you think the Irish citizens' assembly on abortion was a good idea?
If you live in Ireland, tell us about the assembly and its findings – did it help resolve a complex issue, might it help with Brexit?
Mon 14 Jan 2019
In 2018, Ireland voted in a referendum to legalise abortion. Irish politics had been debating this divisive and emotive issue for decades, however the Irish citizens’ assembly, which deliberated on the matter prior to the referendum, was cited as a successful process in helping people understand the complex issues.
The citizens’ assembly was established in 2016 by parliament and its purpose was to deliberate on a number of issues, including the eighth amendment that outlawed abortion. The 99 citizen members of the assembly were selected to be electorally representative and included those in favour of the change, those against and those undecideds.
Harris seeks availability of second doctor in abortion cases
Thursday, 29 Nov 2018
By Ailbhe Conneely, RTÉ News Political reporter
The Minister for Health has put forward an amendment to the Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Bill allowing a second practitioner to carry out an abortion procedure if the first practitioner is unavailable.
The amendment relates to the three day wait period, which allows for 72 hours between a woman's first visit and the second visit.
Continued: https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2018/1128/1013989-abortion-dail/
Frame abortion law in terms of access, not criminality
It is no answer to say that good faith healthcare providers have nothing to fear, when they are still potentially exposed to criminal investigation, says Maeve Taylor.
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Maeve Taylor
The Eighth Amendment has been excised from the Constitution and is no longer part of Irish law.
Following the referendum, Minister for Health Simon Harris published the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill. When enacted, it will influence not only how women access care and how healthcare providers deliver it, but also how society thinks about abortion.
My Body, the Majority’s Choice? A Comparative Overview of Abortion Laws in Ireland and Argentina
Helena Guimarães de Oliveira
Mon 3 Sep 2018
Women in Argentina celebrated a landmark achievement in June 2018 that they believed would pave the way for the legalization of abortion on request in the country. A majority of the Chamber of Deputies approved a bill that would permit abortions on request during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy and increase the scope for legal abortions after the 15th week.
However, on August 8th, the bill was rejected by the Senate. This was a great disappointment for Argentinian women – and those all around the world who had supported the movement – and represented an unfortunate backward step, since the current law, enacted in 1921, will be retained and abortion will remain a crime.
Removing shackles of abortion restrictions in Ireland
July 18, 2018
The landslide victory of the Yes campaign in the May 2018 referendum paves the way for an end to decades of harms caused by the abortion ban (the 8th amendment) of the Irish Constitution.
Inserted in 1983, this provision prevented legal abortion in all cases except risk to a pregnant woman’s life. It has forced thousands of women and girls to leave Ireland to access care, to undergo illegal abortions or to continue pregnancy against their will.
Continued: https://www.figo.org/news/removing-shackles-abortion-restrictions-ireland
From Ireland to Northern Ireland: campaigns for abortion law
Angel Li
Published: 16 June 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31357-6 |
After Ireland successfully overturned its 8th Amendment using grassroots activism, attention turns to Northern Ireland's abortion laws. Angel Li reports from Dublin.
Sitting in a quiet carriage of a train to Gatwick Airport, my thoughts turned to the women taking this same route back to Ireland after travelling to the UK for abortions. I wondered if anyone was on this train for that very purpose. More than 170 000 women have travelled abroad from Ireland seeking abortions since 1980.
Having arrived at Gatwick Airport, I met two volunteers working with the London-Irish Abortion Rights Campaign who were taking the same flight to Dublin as me.
Continued: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31357-6/fulltext
The Irish abortion referendum: How a Citizens’ Assembly helped to break years of political deadlock
Michela Palese
Posted on the 29th May 2018
In a historic referendum on Friday, the Irish electorate voted with a resounding Yes in favour of removing the Eighth Amendment (article 40.3.3) from the Constitution.
Citizens were asked whether or not to replace the Eighth Amendment, which banned abortion in almost all circumstances by recognising the constitutional right to life of the unborn, with a provision enabling the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament) to regulate the termination of pregnancy by law.
With a turnout of 64%, all constituencies bar Donegal voted in favour of repealing.
Ireland Votes to Legalize Abortion. What Comes Next?
Ireland voted in a landslide to support abortion rights. But making abortion care available will take much more.
May 26, 2018
Sarah Jaffe
To Isolde Carmody, Ireland’s overwhelming vote to repeal the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution was a vote to continue down the road that her great-grand-uncle, Joseph Plunkett, and his contemporaries fought for in 1916, in the first steps toward an independent Irish Republic.
“Joe was definitely a feminist, a revolutionary. He deeply believed in equality and in social justice, and that was why he was involved in the revolution in 1916,” Carmody told Rewire.News. Her great-grandmother and grandmother had fought for women’s health care and access to information on abortion rights. She continued that tradition campaigning for “yes” in Leitrim.
Continued; https://rewire.news/article/2018/05/26/ireland-votes-legalize-abortion-comes-next/
Facebook
Google+
Twitter
LinkedIn