On the 5th anniversary of Repeal – women’s rights still not honoured
On the 5th anniversary of the Repeal referendum, the needs of women for access to abortion services are not being met. We protested this today outside the Dáil.
On the 5th anniversary of the Repeal referendum, the needs of women for access to abortion services are not being met. We protested this today outside the Dáil.
Outside the Dáil today (25.5.21), I was proud to stand with the Campaign Against Church Ownership of Women’s Healthcare. We reiterated the demand that the new National Maternity Hospital must be free of church control. I also called for the review of Abortion legislation, now due, to make sure that abortion services are available to women right across the country. We’ve waited long enough! In case people aren’t aware, The Sisters of Charity is one of 18 residential institutions that is highlighted by the Ryan report 2009 to have been responsible for child abuse. They still owe €3 million to the redress scheme for its survivors. The Sisters of Charity, along with three other religious congregations, were responsible for the management of Magdalene Laundries. In 2013 they stated they would not be making ANY contributions to the State redress scheme to the women who had been subject abuse in the Magdalene Laundries. Originally, the Department of Health wanted to give them ‘sole’ ownership of the new €300 million State-funded National Maternity Hospital. Now the Department are being very vague as to how ownership and control of the NMH will be handled. The Campaign Against Church Ownership of Women’s Healthcare is determined that the NMH will be secular and publicly owned and run. People Before Profit fully supports this demand.
FREE CONTRACEPTION. SEX EDUCATION that’s not ethos-based. Remember the Citzens’ Assembly for Repeal of the 8th Amendment? They did excellent work making sensible recommendations to the government, that would then be followed up on, on not. That’s where Free Contraception and non-ethos-based Sex Education come from. So what’s happened to them? – I asked in the Dáil. Still waiting for a satisfactory answer! So are women, and so are children
OUTRAGEOUS! “This is not what we voted for” – A direct quote from a woman 14 weeks pregnant with a Fatal Fetal Abnormality, denied her access to abortion at the Coombe. We raised this in the Dáil today – much to the Ceann Comhairle’s displeasure.
Tonight 5.12.18 Minister Harris gave a committment to Deputy Brid Smith TD that no institution, including the new National Maternity Hospital can conscientiously object to providing abortion services
The hypocrisy of the anti-choicers is very evident in the debate this evening, as is their attitude to those of us representing women’s right to abortion legislation NOW.
Brid is bringing regular updates to the public on the progress of the long-awaited abortion legislation. This is from 13.11.18
The committe stage, where we debate amendments to the proposed abortion legislation, is frustrating to say the least. Anti abortionists want to rehash the argument (that they spectacularly lost 2:1 in May). But its also frustrating when some amendments are ruled ‘in’, and others ‘out’ of order. Like one today, from Carol Nolan who wants to bill a woman for an abortion unless she’s dying. The other issue addressed in this video is criminality. 14 years for vasectomy? Of course not, so why would they even consider it for abortion. Criminality has no place in health legislation. We debated this at the Committee today.
Quick update on ABORTION LEGISLATION. Good to be getting down to it, we fought long and hard enough.