Whilst sitting down to dinner with my family on Saturday evening, I began to tell my parents that I, much to my dismay, had been chosen to write a blog in English this week. I still had to decided what I would write about yet. Many suggestions were made, all of which were turned down by me because as we all know I am very fussy and opinionated. My Father who was beginning to lose his patience with me to write something that would get a reaction from people, and I had my light bulb moment.
For anybody who is in my base class and was actually listening in religion when we discussed the topic of abortion, I’m sure you have come to the conclusion that I have a strong opinion surrounding it and if you question me, I may unintentionally become defensive or angry. I’m not quite sure why I get like this, but I think it may be down to the fact that it bothers me that so many people make assumptions and have a black-and-white way of thinking around an issue that is so obviously not as defined as that. In 2014, on average, 10 women traveled from Ireland to Britain every day for an abortion, that is roughly 3,660 women in the year who have traveled abroad to have this procedure performed. Also in 2014, 1,017 abortion pills were seized by Irish Customs. That is more than double the amount seized in 2013. In my opinion these figure clearly show that there is a desperate need for abortion to be made available to women in Ireland. I know right about now approximately half have the class have tuned out as it is a Tuesday morning, so I want you to do something for me. Imagine that you are one of those 3,660 women, being forced out of the country to have a procedure performed on you because the laws of your homeland prohibit you from receiving this basic level of medical treatment. Its an unpleasant thought isn't it? It probably scares you. It scares me too. And just like the nurse who gave us the talk two weeks ago said, it can happen to anybody, you can get caught out. Its horrible and unfortunate but it happens.
'Women in Ireland don't have autonomy over their own bodies and I am ashamed of my homeland for placing these barbaric restrictions on them. A woman should be the only person to make decisions concerning the matters of her own body and that's that.' - anon
This statement, in my opinion, could not be anymore true. A woman, no matter what race or religion should be entitled to make independent decisions regarding her own body. At the moment, Repeal the Eighth is taking over social media. Probably everybody in the room has seen pictures or videos or read one of the countless article surrounding this topic. There is a online petition which has been signed by thousands and marches have been held all over the country in protest. The amount of people who have signed petitions, bought merchandise, attended these marches or who have simply tweeted about the issue shows that it is no longer a taboo. People want to see the change.
I’m slightly afraid that I might have come on a bit strong there. I want to stress the fact that I am not, in any way, shape, or form a pro-abortionist. And I’m sure we can all agree that I’m also not a pro-life campaigner. I find myself in the grey area of a supposedly black and white matter. Judging on the comments and contributions that were made in religion, I can safely say that a lot of us are here. This grey area has a name, it’s called being pro-choice. Being pro-choice doesn't necessarily mean that you are pro-abortion, or that, if faced with an unintended pregnancy, you would have an abortion. Being pro-choice means that you believe that women, not the government, should make their own healthcare decisions in relation to this matter. Why should anybody except the person who is affected have a say in the decision that is about to be made? It baffles me to think that there are people out there who are making up their minds and have little to no knowledge about the situation. I’m not trying to say that I am more educated on this than the next person, but I would like to urge people to do your research and make what up your mind based on what you think is right.
For more information on the topic, visit websites such as
www.abortionrightscampagain.ie or www.repeal.ie