17 thoughts on “Long Shadows

  1. TheRealJane

    There were two images of Savita Halappanavar that really stuck with me over the course of the campaign. One of her dancing in Galway as a lovely, vibrant woman with her life ahead of her and another of her as a toddler who didn’t look a that dissimilar to my own of the same age.
    I hope her family get comfort from today’s result and their peace will b’é increased.

    1. Starina

      agreed. i’d never seen a video of her before this week. makes the person more personable

  2. painkiller

    Powerful image, but I wonder if her husband and family consented to image being used in this way?

    https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/679028/Abortions_stats_England_Wales_2016.pdf

    See 2.15 on page 15. Also, read Head 7 of of the proposed Bill. This is what the referendum is actually about – and that is fine by me, but be decent and fight your arguments on that front and don’t use the hard cases or in this case, a tragedy to justify other ambitions. Smacks of usefulness.

    This would have been a hot potato for any politician – maybe there is an appetite for this, culturally speaking but in terms of dealing with the HSE, you would be holding a very hot potato if abortion responsibilities were to fall on them. We have a Taoiseach and Health minster very strongly advocating a Yes vote, so it is reasonable to assume that the this will not be falling on the HSE….which indicates a complete lack of transparency from the govt and responsible ministers. Par for the course with any Irish govt but we should ask for more from our politicians. We live in a country that does soft touch regulation like no other, that has ineffective politicians like no other and business ethics like no other. What could possibly go wrong?

    And then there is the subversion in the culture, independent of all politics – here is where we are at with the referenda on civic matters…..

    1. The last referendum was driven as a rights and equality issue yet the existing Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 wasn’t much discussed despite being created to address the issue – so it was really about changing the legal definition of family and using a historical persecution argument to sway the centre vote. And that is fine by me, but have the back-bone present it that way and fight for that.

    2. This referendum is driven as as a rights and equality issue yet the existing Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013 has not been much discussed despite being created to address the issue – so it’s really about changing the social stigma around willful abortion and using a historical persecution argument to sway the centre vote. Again, that is fine by me, but have the back-bone present it that way and fight for that.

    3. The next referendum (possibly legalisation cannabis of cannabis) driven as as a rights and equality issue. The govt might introduce some Act in the meantime to address the issue but it won’t be much discussed during the referendum – so it will really be about availability of cannabis for recreational use and using a historical persecution argument to sway the centre vote. Again, that is fine by me, but have the back-bone present it that way and fight for that.

    And we’ll do it all again….and again….and learn nothing of objectivity.

  3. James inXs

    Moving mural. We need more of those and less moving statues. Let’s make this a permanent shrine.

    Top mealy-mouthed comment I heard on a bus this PM on the way into the City (Dublin) – “What was Savita’s picture doing to that wall? She died of a misdiagnosis.”

    Is there a way to answer that one politely and accurately? I got off at the next stop in rage.

  4. SOQ

    Apparently Savita’s death is the only recorded one of it’s kind. That doesn’t mean the only one of course, just the only recorded one.

    In 35 years I am pretty sure there were others, the difference being that this family was not going to let it go. And we owe them a huge debt for doing so.

Comments are closed.

Sponsored Link
Broadsheet.ie