Tag Archives: Pro-Choice

This afternoon.

Leinster House, Dublin 2

Members of ROSA (for Reproductive rights, against Oppression, Sexism and Austerity) claiming that 6 out of 10 people in Ireland are now Pro Choice after the latest Red C/Amnesty Poll showed 60% of people now support allowing access to abortion on request until at least 12 weeks in pregnancy.

Fight!

Rosa (Facebook)

Sam Boal/RollingNews


This afternoon.

Film Base, Temple Bar, Dublin 2

The launch of Everyday Stories, an exhibition launching TONIGHT highlighting the stories of women who have had abortions and the ways in which the Eighth Amendment impacts on real lives.

The exhibition, started by Caoimhe Anglin (above), features the stories of eight women and their families.

All eight, including Caoimhe, have been impacted by the Eighth Amendment, with six of them having travelled abroad to access abortion services.

Everyday Stories at Filmbase (Facebook)

Leah Farrell/RollingNews

Bread & Roses Festival 2017 in September

Free tonight?

ROSA – Reproductive rights, against Oppression, Sexism and Austerity – launches the Bread & Roses Festival with a table quiz TONIGHT at 7pm in Sin É. 15 Ormond Quay Upper, Dublin at 7pm.

Keishia Taylor writes:

Funds raised will support the Bread & Roses Festival, a key event in preparation for the upcoming referendum on Repealing the 8th Amendment.

Bread & Roses Festival, on Friday 8th and Saturday 9th September, is a feminist-socialist gathering with discussions on how to win abortion rights and the separation of church and state, and workshops on topics such as gender-based violence, LGBTQ oppression and sex education in schools.

In fairness.

Table quiz will take place on 7pm (Admission €5/€10 per person, teams of 4).

ROSA (Facebook)

Enjoy yoga?

Are you pro-choice?

Free this Saturday?

Read on.

Aisling Twomey writes:

11 women a day travel from Ireland to the UK to access termination services because the 8th amendment renders abortion unconstitutional in Ireland.

That’s 11 women who have to pay for tickets for ferries or planes, as well as the hefty cost of food, internal transport and possibly hotels. It’s a fortune, especially for someone who doesn’t have it.

This is one yoga class held to help those women. You don’t have to be a gymnast (you don’t even have to touch your toes)- this is about getting bums on mats to help women who have been abandoned by the Irish state.

Tickets are £12. All proceeds go directly to the Abortion Support Network, a charity which helps woman cover the cost of travel when travelling to access an abortion.

Yoga for Choice at The Tram Depot, 38 Upper Clapton Road , E5 8BQ on Saturday (August 19) at 10am.

Yoga For Choice 

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Earlier.

Buswell’s Hotel, Dublin 2

People Before profit TD Brid Smith joined pro choice activists to launch her bill to reduce the punishment for women who procure abortions and doctors who assist them from 14 years to a fine of up to €1

Ms Smith said:

“I think I am right in saying that the vast majority of people in this country are not aware that if you procure an abortion in this country or help to procure an abortion you could face up to 14 years in prison.We think this is utterly draconian and barbaric,”

The bill well be debated in the dáil next week

Top from left: Annie Hoey (President USI), Kitty O Kane (Derry Alliance for Choice), Ailbhe Smyth (Coalition to Repeal 8th Amendment) Brid Smith TD, Emma Hendrick ( Pro Choice Campaigner) Rita Harrold (ROSA).

Bill to reduce abortion prison sentence to €1 fine to be brought before Dáil (Irish Examiner)

Rollingnews

 Crowd at Queen Mary'sSpeakers from l-r Ailbhe Smyth, Dr Leah Desmond, Fiona de Londres, Emma Campbell and Ann Furedi

From left: Queen Mary’s University last night:  Speakers from left  Ailbhe Smyth, Dr Leah Desmond, Fiona de Londres, Emma Campbell and Ann Furedi

Queen Mary’s University, London.

More than 300 people attended an event to to support the campaign to make abortion legal in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Laura O’Neill, of the London Irish Abortion Rights Campaign, writes

We heard from several speakers, who detailed a number of legal cases, including the prosecution of a woman for helping her 15-year-old daughter access abortion pills online.
A Belfast Court has granted leave for a judicial review, but if convicted the mother faces up to 10 years in prison.

Details of the case drew gasps from the audience, which was mainly made up of Irish ex-pats:

Emma Campbell from the Alliance for Choice told the crowd that the current laws are especially unfair on poorer women, who cannot afford to travel for an abortion.

Ann Furedi from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, an organisation which helps women access abortion, echoed her sentiments.

We stand with our sisters in Northern Ireland and the Republic. Women in Ireland need abortion for the same reasons as women in Britain.

She called for the law in Northern Ireland to be brought in line with the rest of the UK so women living in Newcastle, County Down have the same access as women in Newcastle on Tyne”.

Ailbhe Smyth from the Coalition to Repeal the Eighth Amendment based in the Republic of Ireland said she was heartened by the “huge crowd” who attended.

She told the audience that she believed a constitutional referendum on the Eighth Amendment would take place in the Republic within the next 18 months.
“The ban against abortion is dangerous and fatal in some cases. It’s great to see a social movement around this. I believe this is a fight we can win,” she added.

Ms Smyth also expressed concerns over the implications that Brexit could have on the 3,600 women, who are forced to leave Ireland to access abortion services every year.

What will happen to these women if border or immigration controls come in? We simply don’t know if women will be able to travel freely. Media reports suggest that this vitally important issue wasn’t discussed when An Taoiseach Enda Kenny met British Prime Minister, Theresa May, in Dublin last Monday….

The Eighth Amendment is a profound source of discrimination and national shame for Ireland and we are calling on our young Irish diaspora to support its repeal. These are young women and men who want – and expect – to return to an Ireland that is just, committed to equality, and where women have the right to make our own reproductive decisions.”

The London Irish Abortion Rights Campaign

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Last week, following a mountain of controversy, we offered one of the divisive scarfs of choice by Berriblue (above) to a reader who could successfully complete this couplet:

My scarf is a little red,
My scarf is a little blue…

You replied in your dozens.

But there could be only one winner…

Berriblue and husband Wilim write:

All of the non trolling entries were really good. It was genuinely hard to pick. We ended up being picky with grammar and metre. In the end, we’ve decided on Ultan‘s entry:

‘My scarf is a little red,
My scarf is a little blue,
What she does with her body
Has nothing to do with you.’

Liking the rhythmic triplet on ‘nothing to.’ Certainly employed as a technique to add emphasis to a wonderful, simply articulated point….

FIGHT!

Thanks all.

Berriblue

Previously: Win The Scarf Of Choice

Bandana The Eighth

andrewgalvin

Andrew Galvin, poet and activist

On the thorny question of a father’s rights during pregnancy.

Andrew Galvin writes:

Dear Men,

Some of you are confused as to whether or not you have the right to force a woman whose egg your sperm has fertilised to either terminate the pregnancy against her will or carry the pregnancy against her will as the case may be. Let’s see if I can help.

No.

No you don’t.

And it’s awful to even think you can.

Once you’ve ejaculated, your agency ends with regard to having a say either way about any pregnancy.

Why is that?

Because…

A) After ejaculation, literally every other aspect of making a baby happens in and to another person’s body.

B) Forcing a woman to carry a pregnancy against her will and forcing a woman to terminate a pregnancy against her will both fall under the legal definition of torture.

But don’t worry, this does not diminish your rights or choices. Here’s how:

If you DON’T want a termination then your fool-proof guaranteed way to ensure that is to exercise your infinite, pre-ejaculation agency and choose not to ejaculate into a vagina.

Crazy, I know but it works 100% of the time, all the time.

If you DO want a termination and the woman involved doesn’t the exact same applies. Your last chance to make that choice is BEFORE you ejaculate.

So, make it then; in that glorious time of infinite, pre-ejaculation agency, Instead of thinking you can force a termination on someone who doesn’t want one later down the line….

FIGHT!

A Fertilised Egg Is Not A Contract (Andrew Galvin)