Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005
RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail supporter? Anthony
Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony
Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony
RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony
Waiting for SIPO Anthony Public Inquiry >>
Indymedia Ireland is a volunteer-run non-commercial open publishing website for local and international news, opinion & analysis, press releases and events. Its main objective is to enable the public to participate in reporting and analysis of the news and other important events and aspects of our daily lives and thereby give a voice to people.
Julian Assange is finally free ! Tue Jun 25, 2024 21:11 | indy
Stand With Palestine: Workplace Day of Action on Naksa Day Thu May 30, 2024 21:55 | indy
It is Chemtrails Month and Time to Visit this Topic Thu May 30, 2024 00:01 | indy
Hamburg 14.05. "Rote" Flora Reoccupied By Internationalists Wed May 15, 2024 15:49 | Internationalist left
Eddie Hobbs Breaks the Silence Exposing the Hidden Agenda Behind the WHO Treaty Sat May 11, 2024 22:41 | indy Human Rights in Ireland >>
News Round-Up Mon Jul 29, 2024 00:40 | Richard Eldred A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Labour?s VAT Plan for Private Schools Flunks Revenue Test Sun Jul 28, 2024 19:00 | Richard Eldred New analysis suggests Labour's tax on private schools could bring in less than half the expected amount because of the extra cost of adding more students to the state system.
The post Labour?s VAT Plan for Private Schools Flunks Revenue Test appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Far-Left Group Claim Responsibility for Paris Arson Attacks Sun Jul 28, 2024 17:00 | Richard Eldred A far-Left group has claimed responsibility for crippling Paris's rail network with arson attacks, stranding 800,000 passengers, just before the Olympic opening ceremony.
The post Far-Left Group Claim Responsibility for Paris Arson Attacks appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
DESNZ Has Net Zero Competence Sun Jul 28, 2024 15:00 | David Turver David Turver casts a critical eye over the new crop of ministers at the Department of Energy and Net Zero, revealing a batch of public sector lifers with no commercial savvy and zero energy know-how.
The post DESNZ Has Net Zero Competence appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Hate Cleric Raises £3 Million to Create Islamic Homeland on Scottish Island Sun Jul 28, 2024 13:01 | Richard Eldred A radical cleric has raised over £3 million to transform a remote Scottish island into a self-governing Islamic state with its own army, justice system, school and hospital.
The post Hate Cleric Raises £3 Million to Create Islamic Homeland on Scottish Island appeared first on The Daily Sceptic. Lockdown Skeptics >>
Voltaire, international edition
Netanyahu soon to appear before the US Congress? It will be decisive for the suc... Thu Jul 04, 2024 04:44 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N°93 Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:49 | en
Will Israel succeed in attacking Lebanon and pushing the United States to nuke I... Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:40 | en
Will Netanyahu launch tactical nuclear bombs (sic) against Hezbollah, with US su... Thu Jun 27, 2024 12:09 | en
Will Israel provoke a cataclysm?, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Jun 25, 2024 06:59 | en Voltaire Network >>
|
The struggle for women's right to choose in the North
national |
rights, freedoms and repression |
opinion/analysis
Monday July 07, 2008 12:57 by Cliona Flanagan - WSM
![Report this post to the editors Report this post to the editors](../graphics/report.gif)
Our bodies, our choice
Orange and Green politicians sometimes find it incredibly easy to come together, especially when it’s to stop progress.
In May a joint letter was sent to every Westminster MP, signed by the leaders of the DUP, Sinn Fein, the SDLP and UUP opposing plans to extend British abortion law to Northern Ireland. Ironically, when it comes to a woman’s right to choose the Unionist parties are at one with nationalists in rejecting British rule in Ireland. Last October the Assembly voted for a DUP motion not to issue guidelines to clarify the existing law, on the grounds that it would make abortion more widely available. Doctors still do not know when abortion is legal and when it is illegal! About 40 women a week travel out of Northern Ireland to access abortion services. According to the Family Planning Association 80,000 have travelled since 1967.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone to learn that most of us don’t live our lives as dour celibates. People enjoy sex. And no matter how responsible in relation to safe sex, contraception will fail for a few. And let’s not forget rape victims, the women who thought the menopause had arrived, or those who get the terrible news that their fetus has no chance of survival. If they are well-off, they can easily raise up to £1,000 for a private abortion in Britain. If they are on low pay or welfare they may be forced to continue an unwanted pregnancy.
When all’s said and done, it’s one more example of there being one law for the rich and one for the poor. Some will even try to cause an abortion themselves. 11% of Northern Ireland’s GPs say they have seen the results of amateur abortions. Yet GPs here are not even allowed to refer desperate women for NHS abortions in England.
The religious right, both Protestant and Catholic, are not the force they were when they could chain up playground swings on Sundays or boast of their Magdalene laundries. Their campaign against civil partnerships for gay and lesbian couples was a washout. They will make a lot more noise about abortion, but they are certainly not invincible.
Anarchists are working for a society where people are free to make choices about their own lives. We picture a society where decisions are made at the lowest effective level. For women, this includes the decision whether or not to be pregnant. If the right to choose does not rest solely with pregnant women, where should it lie; with the state, with the courts, with police?
For many women abortion isn’t a choice rather it is the only option in their circumstances. The right to choose should also include the right to choose to become a mother. While we fight for abortion rights on one hand, we fight for the removal of barriers and stigma, which prevent some women from carrying through a pregnancy, which they would like to continue with.
---
From the forthcoming 104th edition of Workers Solidarity first published online on indymedia.ie
|
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (3 of 3)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3I can agree with anarchists on this one.
A woman has an absolute right decide if she wants to have an abortion or not.
Here in the US, there are still people trying to keep women from having safe and legal abortions. Clinics are always filled with anti choice protesters, the religious right, who can't seem to mind their own business and who want to punish women for having and enjoying unmarried sex, are even going after birth control! Thank goodness for these pills, women can have private abortions in their own homes no matter where they are from. The thing is, we have to make sure that these pills are safe, and that women are educated in using them correctly, especially on this web site where there is no doctor. That being said, I think that the web site is a good thing because even though there is a higher than usual risk of needing additional care, at least many women are successful in terminating a pregnancy that they didn't want. No one has the right to make any laws over what another person does with their own body, and a fetus is a part of a woman's body, so a woman has every right to abort if she cannot support having a child physically, mentally, or economically.
i agree with the parties. there should be an irish law for ireland for example similiar to denmark where they have terminations up to 12 weeks.