Pro-choice campaign calls 40,000 Irish expats home for abortion vote

Pro-choice campaign calls 40,000 Irish expats home for abortion vote
Citizens living abroad urged to return in bid to swing referendum and repeal termination ban

Harriet Sherwood
Sun 11 Mar 2018

Up to 40,000 Irish citizens living abroad are being urged to return home to cast crucial votes in a historic referendum in May that could overturn the country’s ban on abortion. A campaign, Home to Vote, is calling on the Irish diaspora in the UK, Europe, north America and elsewhere to book flights and ferries to Ireland to exercise their democratic right.

Three years ago thousands of Irish citizens returned home to vote on same-sex marriage legislation, boosting the remarkable two-thirds majority for changing the law. Campaigners now hope to repeat the feat.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/11/ireland-abortion-repeal-referendum-home-to-vote-pro-choice-campaign


The Irish Expats Flying Home to Vote Against Ireland’s Abortion Ban

The Irish Expats Flying Home to Vote Against Ireland's Abortion Ban
“I am traveling home to vote to repeal the Eighth Amendment on behalf of all the women and girls in Ireland who do not have a choice about what happens to their bodies.”

Zing Tsjeng
Feb 16 2018

As the month of the Irish abortion referendum draws closer, a new campaign is encouraging people to make the journey home to Ireland to cast their ballot.

At the beginning of the year, the Irish government announced that it would hold a vote on repealing the Eighth Amendment by the end of May. The controversial legislation gives an unborn fetus the same right to life as a mother and effectively prohibits abortion unless the pregnancy is life-threatening to the woman. In 2016, the United Nations declared that the ban on abortion was illegal and inhumane.

Continued: https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/neq3kw/ireland-abortion-vote-referendum-expats


Ireland: Emigrants called #HometoVote in abortion referendum

Emigrants called #HometoVote in abortion referendum
New campaign launched urging eligible voters to travel from abroad to cast their ballots

Feb 8, 2018
Ciara Kenny

Recent emigrants are being encouraged to travel back to Ireland to vote in the upcoming referendum on abortion.

The London Irish Abortion Rights Campaign estimates that more than 40,000 Irish citizens living abroad could be eligible to vote in the referendum, and have created a new “Home to Vote” website (hometovote.com) to inform them of their rights and encourage them to vote if they are eligible.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/abroad/emigrants-called-hometovote-in-abortion-referendum-1.3384581


‘Shrouded in shame’: the young women on either side of Ireland’s abortion debate

'Shrouded in shame': the young women on either side of Ireland's abortion debate
Anti-abortion and pro-choice activists are gearing up for a hard-fought referendum in which the youth vote could prove key

Ammar Kalia
Tue 30 Jan 2018

An average of 11 women travel each day from the island of Ireland to have an abortion in England and Wales, according to the most recent Department of Health data. That adds up to more than 200,000 journeys since 1983, when the passing of the Eighth Amendment underlined the ban on abortions in the republic.

In Northern Ireland, the potential punishment for contravening the ban is even more severe. “It’s much more difficult even to have a conversation about abortion in Belfast,” says Jess Brien, a 25-year-old pro-choice campaigner who lives in Northern Ireland’s capital, “because the maximum sentence for having one here is life imprisonment.”

continued: https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2018/jan/30/ireland-abortion-referendum-debate-young-women


These Luggage Tags Protest Ireland’s Abortion Ban & The Message Is Powerful

These Luggage Tags Protest Ireland’s Abortion Ban & The Message Is Powerful
ByMorgan Brinlee
Dec 23, 2017

The artsy "here's my luggage waiting to take a journey" photograph is, by now, a tried and true tradition for holiday travelers on Instagram or Twitter. But what if your luggage-in-transit snap could send a powerful political statement about women's reproductive rights? For many travelers en route to or from Ireland this holiday season, they can and they are. For its latest campaign, an abortion rights advocacy group is encouraging holiday travelers to use "Healthcare Not Airfare" luggage tags to make a statement about abortion rights in Ireland.

To raise awareness about the journey Irish women must make to obtain an abortion, the London-Irish Abortion Rights Campaign designed an eye-catching white luggage tag with a simple message: Healthcare not airfare.

Continued at source: https://www.bustle.com/p/these-luggage-tags-protest-irelands-abortion-ban-the-message-is-powerful-7681385


Irish People Flying Home For Christmas Are Sharing An Important Message About Abortion

Irish People Flying Home For Christmas Are Sharing An Important Message About Abortion

Luggage tags that read "healthcare not airfare" aim to highlight the fact that every year, thousands of women travel from Ireland and Northern Ireland to Britain to get abortions.
Posted on December 21, 2017
Laura Silver, BuzzFeed News Reporter

Irish people travelling home for Christmas are labelling their suitcases with "healthcare not airfare" luggage tags to highlight the number of women who travel to Britain for an abortion, which is illegal in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Many people have been sharing pictures of their luggage tags on social media using the hashtag "Choice4Xmas".

Continued at source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/laurasilver/irish-people-flying-home-for-christmas-are-sharing-an


Momentum grows among London-Irish abortion activists

Momentum grows among London-Irish abortion activists
Some work to help those travelling: ‘There isn’t a stereotypical Irish abortion seeker’

Dec 18, 2017
Shane Hickey in London

This year’s St Patrick’s Day parade in London marked a significant landmark for a group of Irish campaigners who gathered at Hyde Park Corner before starting to walk together. It was the first time that a pro-choice group had been allowed to march in the event.

Under the banner of the London-Irish Abortion Rights Campaign, the group of mostly women held aloft placards with images of Countess Markievicz, St Brigid and Queen Maebh.

Continued at source: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/momentum-grows-among-london-irish-abortion-activists-1.3330652


after 50 years of fighting, northern ireland’s abortion rights movement finally has its day in court

after 50 years of fighting, northern ireland’s abortion rights movement finally has its day in court
And at the awards.

Roisin Lanigan
Oct 24 2017

For over 50 years Northern Irish women have languished behind the rest of the UK when it comes to accessing safe, legal, free abortions, but that might just finally come to an end. Today, London's Supreme Court will hear a landmark appeal against Northern Ireland's strict, draconian abortion laws, where termination of pregnancy is classed as a criminal offence punishable with up to life imprisonment. Today's appeal, which takes place just a week after Belfast's rally for choice, will argue that the current laws in place, which do not allow terminations even on the grounds of fatal foetal abnormality, are incompatible with international human rights.

Continued at source: https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/pa3bqm/after-50-years-of-fighting-northern-irelands-abortion-rights-movement-finally-has-its-day-in-court


UK: The fight against anti-abortion protesters harassing women

The fight against anti-abortion protesters harassing women
13 October 2017
Kylie Noble

Ealing Council made a monumental move to stop the intimidating vigils at the west London Marie Stopes clinic

A London Borough has become the first local authority in Britain to potentially ban anti-choice protesters from outside an abortion clinic's premises - a move that would protect women from harassment and trauma, as they access vital, legal healthcare.

Councillors in Ealing voted majority, with two abstentions, to take “all necessary actions within its powers, utilising all necessary resources, to prevent anti-abortion protesters from intimidating and harassing women”, at the Marie Stopes clinic on Matlock Lane, west London.

Continued at source: http://www.dazeddigital.com/politics/article/37749/1/the-fight-against-anti-abortion-protesters-harassing-women


Ireland: Restrict ‘keyboard warriors’ in abortion debate

Restrict ‘keyboard warriors’ in abortion debate

02 October 2017

Reporting restrictions imposed on broadcast stations during referendums should be adopted for the online world due to the “horrible” nature of “keyboard warrior” attacks during the early stages of the pro-choice and pro-life Eighth Amendment campaigns, writes Fiachra O’Cionnaith.

Labour TD Joan Burton and Fianna Fáil health spokesperson Billy Kelleher said Government should consider the move in a bid to limit the potential damage caused by the most extreme elements of both campaigns during the debate on the issue over the coming months.

Continued at source: http://www.beat102103.com/news/restrict-keyboard-warriors-abortion-debate/