for Abortion rights
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Anarchists and the
right to choose
We envisage an anarchist society as a society where people are free
to make choices about their own lives. For women, this includes the
decision whether or not to become pregnant, whether or not to remain
pregnant, whether or not to have children.
Freedom of
choice
The Workers Solidarity Movement has always
supported a woman's right to control her own body, and have
campaigned for this right as part of the pro-choice movement. We
believe that control over one's fertility is an essential part of
individual freedom.
Repressing Abortion in
Ireland by Mary Favier (Doctors For Choice)
The Republic of Ireland has one of the most draconian abortion laws
in the world. At present abortion may only be performed where
continuation of pregnancy poses a 'real and substantial' risk to a
pregnant woman's life - about 5 cases per year of 50,000 pregnancies
The articles below are in chronological order, starting in 1988
Defying the Hamilton
Injunction
The "Defend the Clinics Campaign" is running out of steam. The recent
Information Picket on Dublin's O'Connell Bridge attracted only 20
people. Trying to turn this tide is a mammoth task.
Review:Abortion
information is illegal
A well written and informative document, we are brought
through the recent history of Women's Rights in Ireland, in
particular a woman's right to control her own fertility.
Abortion:
It's every Womans Right to Choose
Anarchists believe that every woman has the right to choose an
abortion when faced with a crisis pregnancy irrespective of the
reasons for the abortion. At least 4,000 Irish women have abortions
in England every year at present.
The story so far
A review of the fight for abortion rights from 1983 to 1992 focusing
on events around the X case in 1992
Abortion vote
We are being faced with three separate, and each in their own way
highly insulting, referenda. These are on the right to Travel, the
right to Information and on the right to Abortion in certain very
restricted circumstances. Anarchists will be voting Yes to Travel,
Yes to Information and No to the so called '"pro-life"' wording.
Anti-abortionists
told to SPUC OFF!
Where previously the church was an almost unquestioned
authority on moral issues in Ireland, now the positions many Irish
people hold on social issues are in direct conflict with the church.
The most recent example of this were the abortion referenda held on
November 26th, 1992.
Sorting out the vote
It is hard to analyse the most important result from the Referendum, namely the 'substantive issue' or the Abortion Referendum. The Referenda on Travel and Information prove that the 'No, No, No' lobby failed by a decisive amount.Where were the vanguard?
The Irish Left is very small. However history has shown that it is possible to have influence far out of proportion to your numbers. So what strategy did these highly organised groups committed to fighting for womens' liberation adopt.
Bigots send for sherrif
THE FIGHT between SPUC and the student unions over the provision of
abortion information has entered a new phase. SPUC's solicitors, are
now seeking costs from the student unions for the earlier stages of
the case.
Lies, damned lies and
statistics
Never forget that we won the last referenda on abortion rights!
Anti-abortion campaigners such as Des Hanafin and SPUC have been
trying to rewrite history by claiming that they won, and that the
country had voted against abortion.
The
Censorship of Abortion Information Act, 1995
In the autumn of 1992, the people of Ireland voted to legalise
abortion information. More than two years later, the government has
finally introduced a Bill to 'regulate' this information.
Abortion rights
[1998]
We had the referendum, so where is the law?
Abortion: the medical procedure
that dare not speak its name [1998]
OVER THE SUMMER there were developments in the long struggle over
women's rights to control their own bodies.
The United Bigots
[2000]
When the 'Northern Ireland Assembly' discussed the issue of abortion
in June, the prospect of denying rights to women united politicians
right across the so-called 'religious divide'.
WS65 Women on Waves ship at Dublin and Cork
Ireland's silence about abortion was dramatically broken when the Women on Waves ship visited Dublin and Cork.
June 15th - Pro Choice ship
arrives in Dublin [with pictures]
For the last few months Irish pro-choice activists including members
of the WSM have been preparing for the arrival of the Women of the
Waves ship in Ireland.
Irish women - still having
to get the abortion boat [May 2001]
A medical ship with a fully functioning operating theatre on board is
coming to Ireland in June. The ship will travel to countries like
Brazil and the Philippines where abortion is illegal and women are
dying as a result of unsanitary and unprofessional backstreet
abortions.
On 6th March 2002 there was another referendum, once again aimed at removing the minor advances won at the time of the X-Case. This referendum aimed to rule out the threat of suicide as a reason for women receiving a legal abortion in Ireland. We campaignrf on this referendum as part of the Alliance for A No Vote. We also published articles in Workers Solidarity, 6000 copies of each issue are distributed in Ireland.
Vote No in government's
anti-choice referendum (Jan 2002)
As we face into campaigning against yet another abortion referendum
we are taking this opportunity to detail why we this is such an
important issue for us.
Abortion rights -
It's up to you and me (Jan 2002)
Media 'experts' and commentators have been saying that the
progressive changes that occurred around contraception, divorce and
equal age of consent for gays in Ireland in the early to mid-nineties
were a natural result of modernisation of Irish society and occurred
because liberal politicians decided to push for these changes. We are
supposed to feel that only our rulers can change things, that the
rest of us are pretty powerless. Well, it's not true.
An open letter to a
Fianna Fáil hypocrite (Jan 2002)
Noel Ahern is the Fianna Fail TD for Dublin North West, and a
supporter of the referendum to deny suicidal women with crisis
pregnancies the possibility of abortion
Feb 16th - X case march in
Dublin - 10 years on [with pictures]
Around 300 people marched through the centre of Dublin on Saturday to
mark the 10th anniversary of the 'X' case and to support a No vote in
the latest anti-abortion referendum
Feb 14th - Abortion
referendum - get involved [with pictures]
On March 6th there will be yet another anti-abortion referendum in
the Irish republic, the third since 1983. It is vital we turn out the
largest possible pro choice No vote on the 6th.
Government wants to keep
exporting women (Nov 2001)
The government is going to have yet another abortion referendum next
spring. At present abortion is only allowed in Ireland if the woman
is in imminent danger of death because of her pregnancy.
Nov 28 - Alliance for a No Vote
Dail picket [with photos]
Fight the governments anti-abortion referendum. Yesterday as the Dail
debated the latest anti abortion bill the Alliance for a No Vote
(ANV) held a lunch time picket outside.
March 8th - Abortion
referendum victory in Ireland
Pro-choice campaigners celebrated throughout Ireland as a referendum
which would have further restricted the availability of abortion in
Ireland was defeated.
Fight for a women's right to
choose [Sept 2003]
Belfast High Court refuses to say when abortion is legal
Dublin - Alliance for Choice launched
Abortion Rights Still
Denied [May 2004]
In 1861, abortion was made a criminal offence in Ireland. One
hundred and forty three years later the Irish government continues to
deny women their right to choice.
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Abortion in Ireland - Historical Perspective and current campaigning
Abortion was totally illegal in Ireland under all circumstances until the Supreme Court judgement in the "X" case earlier this year, which seems to permit abortion in the extremely limited case of threatened suicide by the mother. The 1861 Offences against the Persons Act states that any person "performing, attempting and or assisting in an abortion is liable to penal servitude for life".
International backlash against abortion
In America the supreme court recently voted by 5 judges to 4 to enforce a restrictive Pennsylavania law which requires a mandatory waiting period foe women seeking abortions and forces teenagers to inform their parents of their intentions to have an abortion. The ruling was greeted with the headline in Village Voice "Court to women : Drop Dead".
The Catholic church in Ireland has always been massively supported by the State and allowed a huge say in the running of the country. This article will attempt to cover the facts of church power in Ireland and the long history of State support beginning hundreds of years be fore the establishment of the 26 county state
The not very 'natural' oppression of women
In the majority of societies half our species (women) has been held in an inferior position to the other half (men). Why is this the case? The answer to this question should explain two things. It should explain why today with all our equal rights legislation women are still second class citizens, and secondly it should indicate the mechanisms and tactics we have to use to achieve womens' liberation.
It isn't sexism that holds us in the worse paid jobs but rather the economic reality of the capitalism system. To survive in the market place any company has to be competitive, to maximise profits. In todays society, creches and child-care are a luxury that the profit motive can rarely afford.
see also the Anarchism and Womens liberation index
