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Banning abortion does not stop abortion

category national | rights, freedoms and repression | feature author Thursday March 20, 2008 00:05author by safe legal and rare Report this post to the editors

Ban instead results in "traumatic and more dangerous" situations for women

featured image
Nothing to be ashamed of

The Council of Europe has called on Ireland to decriminalise abortion.

This week , the Council of Europe's Committee on Equal Opportunities issued a report saying all member states should guarantee women the right to a safe termination of pregnancy.

The report states quite clearly: “the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men considers that a ban on abortions does not result in fewer abortions, but mainly leads to clandestine abortions, which are more traumatic and more dangerous.”

Some people estimate that the number of Irish women who travel to England every year is about 7,000. Since some women obviously use false British addresses, or disguise their origins in other ways, the true figure can never be known.



This means that women who should be under medical supervision are having to travel, stressfully having to go through finding money for flights and clinics and hotels when they should be concerned about their health.

No one knows how many clandestine abortions are taking place in Ireland, and except in very gruesome and exceptional circumstances, we rarely hear of the risks to their own health that women undergo trying to cause miscarriages. It's not known how many women are leaving Ireland to go to other countries in Europe to have abortions either.

What the ban in Ireland does not do is prevent abortions.

There are also, of course, no figures on births which happen as a result of the ban of abortion, because no one gathers any statistics. It seems unlikely that very many children have ever been born as a result of the ban, but a huge number of women have undergone pain and distress because of it.

Since it is clear that the ban is not having the effect of preventing abortions, but is causing pain and distress to Irish citizens, many people have argued that it is hard to see why it is not overturned.

The Council of Europe report recommends that all 47 countries who are member states of the Council of Europe, should guarantee women the right to have an abortion and promote cheaper contraception, along with compulsory sex education in schools, to try to reduce the number of women who seek abortions.

“Abortion on request is, in theory, available in all Council of Europe member states, except Andorra, Malta, Ireland and Poland," states Austrian elected representative Gisela Wurm, who wrote the brief introduction to the resolution on behalf of the committee.

The report is quite clear on who should decide whether a woman has an abortion:

"The Assembly affirms the right of all human beings, women included, to respect for their physical integrity and to freedom to control their own bodies. In this context, the ultimate decision on whether or not to have an abortion should be a matter for the woman concerned, and she should have the means of exercising this right in an effective way."

However, access to abortion is not easy for all women, and the committee sees the fact that there are restrictions on information or assistance towards a decision as an instance of discrimination:

"These restrictions have discriminatory effects, since women who are well-informed and possess adequate financial means can often obtain legal and safe abortions more easily."

The report will be discussed during the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe between April 14th and 18th.

Read the full report and Gisella Wurm's introduction here: http://tinyurl.com/2lva5a

For information on the law relating to abortion in Ireland click here: http://www.ifpa.ie/services/abort.html

The video shows a protest at a Dublin family planning clinic last month.

Related Link: http://tinyurl.com/2lva5a

 #   Title   Author   Date 
   save the born     Diduever    Wed Mar 19, 2008 22:19 
   T-shirt?     ellen    Wed Mar 19, 2008 23:36 
   T-shirt     slr    Thu Mar 20, 2008 00:53 
   Is this the way?     Ilenia    Thu Mar 20, 2008 01:27 
   havinng to travel is the problem, not abortion     SLR    Thu Mar 20, 2008 02:11 
   ..........and all I got was this lousy t-shirt!     t-shirt??????    Thu Mar 20, 2008 03:43 
   chinese equal opportunities     O'Chan    Thu Mar 20, 2008 05:27 
   re: last comment.     helpful    Thu Mar 20, 2008 06:23 
   Monbiot column     Cathal    Thu Mar 20, 2008 08:46 
 10   Response to : 'havinng to travel is the problem, not abortion'     Ilenia    Thu Mar 20, 2008 11:27 
 11   Netherlands     anonymous    Thu Mar 20, 2008 11:53 
 12   response     S,L,R    Thu Mar 20, 2008 12:33 
 13   response     Ilenia    Thu Mar 20, 2008 16:50 
 14   Referendum     Andrew    Thu Mar 20, 2008 18:25 
 15   what is right and what is wrong     Wisdo    Thu Mar 20, 2008 23:54 
 16   let's get above T-shirts and soundbytes.     Reece Eikling    Fri Mar 21, 2008 01:17 
 17   You can ban drink and driving too,but.....     We the People    Fri Mar 21, 2008 17:50 
 18   From Today with Pat Kenny     Mark C    Fri Mar 21, 2008 21:48 
 19   being moral about other people's lives is not preventing abortions     slR    Fri Mar 21, 2008 22:13 
 20   FYI     Don    Fri Mar 21, 2008 22:49 
 21   Same people, same moral arguments     slr    Sat Mar 22, 2008 19:03 
 22   Anti-Abortion Protestors in Dublin     Paul    Sun Mar 23, 2008 17:38 
 23   graphics     Carl    Sun Mar 23, 2008 21:58 
 24   Except     Andrew    Sun Mar 23, 2008 23:55 
 25   Reply to Don     Elisa    Mon Mar 24, 2008 13:20 
 26   Elisa     Don    Mon Mar 24, 2008 15:41 
 27   Come on now     Mike    Wed Mar 26, 2008 16:22 
 28   Correcting Don     Mary O Flynn    Wed Mar 26, 2008 16:41 
 29   motherhood     lulu    Wed Mar 26, 2008 18:14 
 30   not feeling guilty     Siobhan    Wed Mar 26, 2008 18:36 
 31   Need for discussion     C.    Wed Mar 26, 2008 19:46 
 32   Medical procedures!     anon.    Thu Mar 27, 2008 16:34 
 33   you can't end something before it begins     get real    Thu Mar 27, 2008 17:56 
 34   right to abortion     rationalist    Thu Mar 27, 2008 22:21 
 35   Illegal abortion still offers the choice     Paul    Tue Apr 08, 2008 11:01 
 36   concomitantly     plum    Tue Apr 08, 2008 12:23 
 37   again     C.    Tue Apr 08, 2008 12:56 
 38   Ectopic pregnancies     Pro-lifer    Tue Jul 21, 2009 22:53 
 39   "Pro Lifer"     Dorothy Gale    Wed Jul 22, 2009 10:45 
 40   intention and effect     Philly    Wed Jul 22, 2009 12:03 
 41   Double Effect?     Dorothy Gale    Wed Jul 22, 2009 12:13 
 42   Humpty -Dumpty? You have made my words mean what YOU want.     Pro-lifer    Wed Jul 22, 2009 15:55 
 43   pro-lifer     DorothyGale    Wed Jul 22, 2009 16:08 
 44   Read my post again     Pro-lifer    Wed Jul 22, 2009 16:30 
 45   Sigh all you want     Dorothy Gale    Wed Jul 22, 2009 16:42 
 46   Sigh again     Pro-lifer    Wed Jul 22, 2009 17:22 
 47   Progress     Pro-lifer    Wed Jul 22, 2009 17:24 
 48   Which cases?     Pro-lifer    Wed Jul 22, 2009 17:31 
 49   "prolifer"     Dorothy Gale    Wed Jul 22, 2009 17:35 
 50   Don Quixote     Pro-lifer    Wed Jul 22, 2009 17:51 
 51   "lifer"     Dorothy Gale    Wed Jul 22, 2009 18:16 
 52   At last, down to some specifics     Pro-lifer    Wed Jul 22, 2009 19:49 
 53   Unwanted     Pro-lifer    Wed Jul 22, 2009 20:02 
 54   a few thoughts on the matter     SpreadYourGenes    Thu Jul 23, 2009 04:16 
 55   Get a grip     Disco    Thu Jul 23, 2009 11:06 
 56   Miss C speaks to RTE     Pro-lifer    Mon Jul 27, 2009 01:15 
 57   Miss C....     Disco    Mon Jul 27, 2009 11:20 
 58   Irish abortion laws breach human rights, court rules     Irish Times Reader    Thu Dec 16, 2010 11:13 
 59   on the subject of abortion     sean    Thu Dec 16, 2010 18:13 
 60   Sad indeed     nnnn    Thu Dec 16, 2010 18:33 
 61   on abortion     sean    Thu Dec 16, 2010 18:47 
 62   This is all a convenient and cynical distraction     AuntyProLife    Fri Dec 17, 2010 19:51 


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