‘I had no real interest in politics, until this’ – Ireland’s accidental abortion activists

‘I had no real interest in politics, until this’ – Ireland’s accidental abortion activists
On 25 May, voters in Ireland will decide whether to legalise abortion. Doctors, grandparents and those who have been forced to travel the UK to seek terminations have been raising their voices in a bid to shift the narrative

Joyce Fegan
Tue 22 May 2018

In September 1983, article 40.3.3 – the eighth amendment – was voted into the Irish constitution. It equated the life of the “unborn” with that of the mother. It gave rise to a ban on abortion in all circumstances from the moment of conception.

It also led to a grave national silence, whereby abortion was outsourced to neighbouring jurisdictions, with Britain becoming a place of medical refuge for at least 168,703 Irish women.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/22/ireland-abortion-vote-accidental-activists-eighth-amendment

‘We sat in the airport crying’: Irish couple describes travelling to England to abort terminal pregnancy

'We sat in the airport crying': Irish couple describes travelling to England to abort terminal pregnancy
The country's strict abortion laws meant the couple couldn't end the pregnancy in Ireland

Helen Hoddinott Dublin
May 20, 2018

When Caroline and Michael McCarthy were told at their 20-week pregnancy scan that their third child wouldn’t survive outside the womb, they were devastated.

They learnt that their baby’s kidneys hadn’t developed in the first weeks of pregnancy, a condition called bilateral renal agenesis. As a result, there was no amniotic fluid and the baby had no chance of survival after birth.

Continued: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ireland-abortion-referendum-eighth-amendment-travel-liverpool-video-a8360226.html

Ireland – ‘I spent hours listing pros and cons of ending my pregnancy’

‘I spent hours listing pros and cons of ending my pregnancy’
As a GP I’m very aware of the h of pregnancy loss. Would the decision haunt me?

April 27, 2018
Caroline McCarthy

On January 3rd, 2018, at 03.34am I delivered my third child, at Liverpool Women’s Hospital. He weighed just one pound and seven ounces, and we named him John George after his dad’s great grandfather.

The reason I was there and not at home in my own maternity hospital was that my husband and I had decided to terminate our pregnancy. I was 23 weeks and four days pregnant and it was just over three weeks since we had discovered our baby would not survive once born.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/i-spent-hours-listing-pros-and-cons-of-ending-my-pregnancy-1.3472784