Ireland – Ivana Bacik: How abortion campaign went from ‘desperately lonely’ to ‘tremendously positive’

On a political level, there was very little to cling to as an abortion activist in the 80s and 90s, she says, and religion of course played a large part in that.

May 27, 2023

LABOUR LEADER IVANA Bacik spoke to The Journal about how the route to abortion rights went from being a “desperately lonely” movement on the periphery of society to becoming a mainstream political issue.

The subject of access to abortion stills holds the public’s attention today with a recent review finding that issues such as geographic location, the three-day waiting period and other obstacles still impede women’s access to abortion services.

Continued: https://www.thejournal.ie/ivana-bacik-interview-abortion-rights-ireland-6077186-May2023/

Ireland – This woman died because of an abortion ban. Americans fear they could be next.

I think maternal mortality will go up,” said the expert who wrote Ireland's official report on the death of Dr. Savita Halappanavar, who was denied an abortion.

July 4, 2022
By Patrick Smith

After the Supreme Court’s historic decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, some doctors are highlighting the 2012 death of a pregnant woman in Ireland and warning that the same thing could happen on a large scale in the United States.

Dr. Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old Indian-born dentist, died in 2012 in Galway, on Ireland’s west coast, after she was denied an abortion by doctors who cited the country’s strict laws, despite there being no chance of her baby’s survival, according to Ireland’s official report on the case.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/woman-died-ireland-abortion-ban-warning-americans-roe-v-wade-rcna35431

The 8th: Ireland, the abortion referendum. You can feel the tectonic plates shifting

TV: This highly watchable film chronicles the Repeal side’s winning campaign of 2018

Wed, Aug 4, 2021
Ed Power

The historic significance of the vote to repeal the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, in the referendum of 2018, was lost on nobody at the time. Three years later, The 8th (RTÉ One, Wednesday, 9.35pm) captures the sense that tectonic plates were shifting under Irish society as the electorate went to the polls to allow abortion in Ireland.

The 8th, which comes to television after a video-on-demand run earlier this year, is told largely from the perspective of the Repeal campaign, particularly that of the veteran women’s-rights advocate Ailbhe Smyth. The point she and other campaigners make over and over is that, although the vote was of course about restoring to women their bodily autonomy, the wider context was the State’s beginning a long journey of atonement for decades of institutionalised misogyny.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/the-8th-ireland-the-abortion-referendum-you-can-feel-the-tectonic-plates-shifting-1.4638914

Ireland – Less than 15% of GPs sign up to provide abortion services

Less than 15% of GPs sign up to provide abortion services
Doctors providing new service have overwhemingly positive view

Dec 30, 2019
Paul Cullen, Jennifer Bray

One year after its introduction, the number of women using Ireland’s new abortion service remains a closely-guarded secret.

Official figures will not be published until well into next year, but the estimates from those involved in providing the service have been reduced from an initial 10,000 a year to about 5,000. The vast majority are being performed by GPs prescribing pills in the community.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/less-than-15-of-gps-sign-up-to-provide-abortion-services-1.4127530

Ireland – Harris accused of letting abortion protest exclusion zones ‘fall off the agenda’

Harris accused of letting abortion protest exclusion zones 'fall off the agenda'
The group that staged a protest outside the National Maternity Hospital with three small white coffins plans to return this Saturday.

July 10, 2019

MINISTER FOR HEALTH Simon Harris has been accused of letting legislation to introduce protest exclusion zones around maternity hospitals fall off the government’s agenda.

Pro-life protesters staged a demonstration with three white child-size coffins outside the National Maternity Hospital last weekend. This group is planning to return this Saturday.

Continued: https://www.thejournal.ie/exclusion-zones-4718492-Jul2019/

10.07.2019

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anti-choice protesters

Catherine Noone

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Ivana Bacik

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Ireland – Abortion campaigners hail ‘historic day’ but eye changes

Abortion campaigners hail ‘historic day’ but eye changes
Activists celebrate but urge full decriminalisation and removal of three-day wait period

Dec 13, 2018
Jennifer Bray

Ailbhe Smyth heard around 4pm that there was a possibility that legislation clearing the way for abortion in Ireland could pass earlier than the expected 10pm finishing time.

She hopped on a Luas and headed to the city centre to make her way to Leinster House. Following years of effort, this was not a moment to miss. She was not alone.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/abortion-campaigners-hail-historic-day-but-eye-changes-1.3730715

Ireland: The Abortion Bill passes the first house

FEATURE - Ireland: The Abortion Bill passes the first house
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International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion.
11 December 2018

Abortion bill passed by a large majority

On 6 December 2018, the lower house of the Irish parliament passed the Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Bill at midnight with a vote of 90 for, 15 against, and 12 abstentions, after hours of debate and consideration of 60 amendments, almost all of which were voted down with large majorities. Minister of Health Simon Harris remained in strict control throughout the process, rejecting amendments by pro-choice members to make the bill less restrictive and by conservative/anti-abortion members to make it more restrictive, claiming throughout that he was determined to give the people the bill he promised before the referendum on the 8th Amendment to the Constitution in May. A small number of conservative members fought till the end, talking at length each amendment. Then, finally, it was passed. It moved the very next morning to the upper house. Ivana Bacik, a Labour Party member in the upper house, said she thought it very likely that the bill would become law before the holiday recess later this month.

Continued: https://mailchi.mp/safeabortionwomensright/feature-ireland-the-abortion-bill-passes-the-first-house-11-december-2018?e=372dd34034

Ireland – Ronan Mullen pledges to ‘fight the good fight’ in Seanad abortion debate

Ronan Mullen pledges to 'fight the good fight' in Seanad abortion debate

Friday, December 07, 2018
By Daniel McConnell

Health Minister Simon Harris is set to reject amendments to his controversial abortion legislation when it is debated in the Seanad on Monday.

Concerns have been expressed by senators on both sides of the debate with pro-life opponents to the bill criticising attempts to rush the legislation through, while pro-choice senators have expressed concern over elements of the bill as currently drafted.

Continued: https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/ronan-mullen-pledges-to-fight-the-good-fight-in-seanad-abortion-debate-890661.html

Slow passage: All eyes on Seanad as delays risk timeline of abortion bill

Slow passage: All eyes on Seanad as delays risk timeline of abortion bill

Laura Larkin
December 7 2018

Senators are wont to complain that nobody pays attention to the upper house - they won't have that to say over the coming days, as their handling of the abortion legislation will come under intense scrutiny.

The painfully slow passage of the legislation through the Dáil - which saw extensive debate, some old-fashioned mudslinging, and no meaningful change to the bill in the end - put the timeline for services at risk.

continued: https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/slow-passage-all-eyes-on-seanad-as-delays-risk-timeline-of-abortion-bill-37603274.html

Irish Lawmakers Vote to Allow Abortion, Part of Landmark Liberal Shift

Irish Lawmakers Vote to Allow Abortion, Part of Landmark Liberal Shift

By Ed O’Loughlin
Dec. 6, 2018

DUBLIN — Fighting off last-ditch resistance, Irish lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a bill introducing free and legal abortion to a nation that was long a bastion of staunchly conservative Catholicism, seven months after voters repealed a constitutional ban on abortion.

An often heated session of the Parliament’s lower house on Wednesday had to be extended several times, as a small number of members — mainly independent conservatives — talked at length on dozens of amendments, almost all of which were voted down by large majorities. The bill’s opponents attempted to prolong the debate even further, which could have derailed the government’s plan to make abortion available in January.

continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/06/world/europe/ireland-legal-abortion-vote.html