38 thoughts on “Floating Voter

  1. mildred st. meadowlark

    You won’t win this.

    (You might win – but where’s your sense of humour? Also, free speech…)

    1. Janet, I ate my Avatar

      I reckon they will come up with an answer after all parties are happy with said answer.
      Hope Listrade is ok

      1. newsjustin

        Maybe they’ll stop blocking my posts for politely and helpfully pointing out Listrade’s error?

      2. mildred st. meadowlark

        I hope so too Janet. As was said before, clarification – especially now – would be better. So hopefully we’ll have another chance to read perhaps a revised version of listrade’s piece.

        For what it’s worth, I just like annoying the lads of a quiet Wednesday night. Sorry. Sort of.

      3. Lush

        I was half way through the piece and work intervened and when I went back, it was gone.I’ve just spent the last 10 mintues looking for it on BS.
        Are you allowed tell me what happened?
        Bodger, can you maybe enlighten me?

    1. newsjustin

      It was factually inaccurate. Worryingly so.

      I pointed out the facts around treatment of women with ectopic pregnancies in Ireland (the pregnancy is ended) and how routinue the treatment is.

      The post is now gone, with no correction or clarrification.

        1. newsjustin

          An acknowledgement from Listrade that he was totally wrong and from B.S. that they failed to fact check it at the most basic level would be nice.

          A clarification that women who suffer an ectopic pregnancy in Ireland need have no worry whatsoever about availability and appropriateness of treatment would also be valuable.

      1. SOQ

        Well it’s nice to see doctors reached a consensus on at least some parts of the 8th. Pity they couldn’t agree on all of it eh?

        When you have doctors arguing on national television as to how they be should be applying it 30 odd years after it was introduced, it would make you wonder.

        1. SOQ

          Just on this subject, assuming the 8th is repealed, will there be some sort of register of doctors who refuse to prescribe abortion pills?

    2. Listrade

      Yeah, I asked for it to be removed. To answer Justin’s point, I did think about writing a correction, but thought it best that it was taken down entirely.

      I was going to write something on In Her Shoes and while researching some of the conditions they described and I came across a comment by Prof Greene on ectopic pregnancy and misinterpreted it without looking further into it. For obvious reasons, that’s a sensitive subject in the family. I totally took up wrong what he was saying and launched into the article.

      The post had other conditions and events that were relevant to the debate, but I felt that even with a correction having an inaccurate post up linking to In Her Shoes would probably do more harm than good, so I asked for it to be removed.

      It was my error and my call to remove it.

      I honestly didn’t think it’d be that big an issue. It’s not like my stuff tends to generate that many comments, so I thought I’d do the mea culpa this morning if anyone mentions it. Seems I should have done it last night, so apologies for that too.

      Nothing nefarious or sinister there. It was part being annoyed with myself for writing and submitting in haste (you’re never too old to sulk and feel sorry for yourself) but mostly normal stuff like putting the phone away, putting son to bed, watching the last twenty minutes of the Europa League and stuff like that.

      Anyway, I got it wrong on ectopic pregnancy. In my opinion leaving it up even with a correction devalued In Her Shoes and their work because I was linking to them. That was a worse situation than having egg on my face in the comments section . I isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last time I’m wrong, but I didn’t think that either In Her Shoes or Broadsheet should be permanently linked to my error.

      1. Sentient Won

        You should apologise to your family for the unconscionable slur you inflicted on them.

        An outrageous act of mendacity.

      2. newsjustin

        +1 Listrade for owning the mistake. These things happen.

        I still think it’s worth posting something on ectopic pregnancies in Ireland. Let everyone learn from it.

      3. newsjustin

        And for some reason Listrade, ever since I made my comments on your now deleted article, BS have seen for to put all my comments into moderation.

        Perhaps you could use their good offices to ask BS Towers to rectify this. I don’t see why I should be inconvenienced for this.

  2. mildred st. meadowlark

    I’m going to try retread a comment I wrote earlier, which didn’t make the final cut.

    Anyway, I was thinking about this whole referendum, and how a woman’s entire life can be affected by her womb and the contents of it.

    It’s hard to be romantic about pregnancy, I think, for a woman. From the an early age – as early as ten years old – we learn how to deal with the monthly bleeding that is usually painful and for some far worse than that. We are used to the sight of blood, clots, the lining of our wombs exiting our bodies. As I said, it’s a monthly occurrence.

    We learn to fear an unexpectedly missed period. Is there any man out there who can understand that precise fear? That feeling of being trapped by the circumstance of your gender and the law? Of knowing you have no choice – at least not in your own country?Is there any law in Ireland which singles out men in this way? I’d genuinely like to know.

    Pregnancy, bringing a new life, a new person into this world is not something to be taken lightly. Women are taught this as children. The burden falls on us.

    Being pregnant is a whole other story. There’s morning sickness which can last the whole day, weight loss, weight gain, swollen feet, cracked nipples. There’s any number of risks to a woman during pregnancy – placenta previa, hypertension, pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, even a uti can cause problems.

    And then labour, relatively risk free these days, is no picnic. It’s long and painful and your body will never be the same again. There will be blood and sh.t and perineal tears, and you’ll likely have no pelvic floor muscles, but you’ll have brought a baby into the world.

    And with all this in mind, maybe you can understand why women can be more practical about pregnancy, about abortion, about something that can be likened to an unpleasant bleeding which we have grown up with, blunt as it may sound.

    I’m not trying to belittle anyone’s feelings or beliefs here. I’m not trying to overshare. I’m trying to (as factually as I can) enlighten and educate.

    1. Pookakie

      Well said Mildred. I’d love to see what the result of the vote would be if men were excluded from voting.

  3. bisted

    …by far the best thing I’ve read on this and a great perspective…thanks mildred…

  4. Paul

    Thanks Mildred. It is possible to be blunt without using disgusting and derogatory speak such as ‘buckets of guts’ which i have found to be the worst terminology throughout the lead up to the referendum. My partner and i have suffered many miscarriages and a stillbirth, to have aborted babies described as ‘buckets of guts’ breaks my heart.

    1. Janet, I ate my Avatar

      I’m sorry for your losses Paul
      it goes some way to explaining your take on the issue
      I hope you both get or have gotten the child you desired

    2. mildred st. meadowlark

      I agree Paul. Bucket of guts is an awful term. Used only for crude humour. I can only imagine how awful those losses were for you and your partner, and how horrible it must be to read such a nasty turn after something like that. I’m very sorry for both of you, for what you had to go through.

  5. Starina

    did i read a post on In Her Shoes about a woman who had to travel due to an ectopic pregnancy or am I officially having nightmares about this referendum?

  6. newsjustin

    I doubt it. If you have I’d be interested in seeing it, as I’d suspect it’s incorrect.

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