Archive for the ‘2018 Referendum to Repeal the 8th Amendment to the Irish Constitution’ Category
Nurses for Choice Warn Against “Wait Period” in Proposed 8th Amendment Draft Legislation
Nurses for Choice Express Concern over “Wait Period” in Abortion Legislation
Voluntary organisation Nurses for Choice have spoken out on the “wait period” between initial meeting with GP and receiving a termination proposed to be included in Irish abortion law in the event that the eighth amendment is repealed this May. The organisation has stated that waiting periods only act as barriers to healthcare in the hope it decreases needs of abortions, but have proven to be harmful. Nurses for Choice representative Joanna Hickey said “Abortion healthcare should be evidence based in practice and not based in myth in that time constraints somehow benefit the pregnant person.”
They have welcomed the introduction of the 36th amendment and Minister Simon Harris’s statements regarding the need for immediate change. Representative Rachel Egan stated; “We are encouraged to see evidence based information used to support the argument against retaining the eighth amendment. We too believe in trusting women to make their own healthcare choices and granting all patients their bodily autonomy”
Nurses for Choice representative Joanna Hickey stated “Nurses care for a wide and diverse range of patients of reproductive age who are experiencing serious and difficult health issues in which pregnancy cannot be an option for them. As advocates for these patients we believe it is imperative that we repeal the eighth amendment.”
Rachel Egan added, “Forcing women to travel to avail of abortion has been shown to have negative effects on the person’s psychological, physical, social and financial wellbeing. We believe the constitution is not the correct place to contain laws regarding a private and personal matter, and the pregnant person’s choice should be made by them alone in conjunction with appropriate medical professionals.”
Nurses for Choice is group of nurses campaigning for a change in the constitution to allow women access to free, safe and legal abortion here in Ireland. We ask for any nurses who wish to participate in the campaign to repeal the eighth amendment to get in touch via nurses4choice@gmail.com or by joining their local pro-choice group.
Remember Sheila Hodgers
Remember Sheila Hodgers.
The infamous story of Sheila Hodgers, murdered by Irish Lifers in positions of power – Repeal the 8th.
From Una Dunphy of the Waterford Trades Council :
“Today is the anniversary of her death, thirty five years ago.
Sheila lived in Dundalk with her husband, Brendan. They had two daughters, aged eight and seven. They were considering trying for a third child when Sheila discovered a lump on her breast. After a mastectomy, however, she got better. With the help of cytotoxic drugs, her cancer was kept at bay.
Until, that is, she became pregnant. Her medication was stopped, for fear that it would harm the foetus in her womb. She developed severe lumbar pain, indicating a tumour on her back. But this could not be fully confirmed because the hospital would not take an X-ray.
Brendan Hodgers asked that a Caesarean section be performed on his wife, so that she could return to her cancer treatment immediately. The request was refused. She was admitted to Our Lady of Lourdes in agony. As Brendan Hodgers subsequently recalled: “She was literally screaming at this stage. I could hear her from the front door of the hospital, and she was in a ward on the fourth floor.”
Sheila Hodgers was eventually moved to the maternity ward. On March 16th, 1983, she went into labour two months prematurely and was delivered of a baby girl the next day. The child died almost immediately after birth. Mrs Hodgers died two days later. She had tumours on her neck, spine and legs.”
Six months later the 8th amendment was approved to be added to the constitution. The news had broadcast Sheila’s case just two days before the referendum. Despite that – the referendum passed, and the following month it was written into the constitution.
Since the addition of the 1983 amendment – countless women and families have been negatively impacted by the 8th.
From Miss X [1991], a 14 year old girl that was raped and detained from travelling to the UK for an abortion – to Miss P [2014], a clinically dead woman in her 20s, 15 weeks pregnant, and kept artificially alive for three weeks until the High Courts decided that the woman should be able to have dignity in death.
It is time for Repeal.”
Trade Union Campaign to Repeal the 8th Amendment Table Quiz Thursday March 29 at 8.00pm in the Teachers’ Club, 36 Parnell Square West
The Trade Union Campaign to Repeal the 8th Amendment is hosting a Table Quiz on
Thursday March 29 at 8.00pm in the Teachers’ Club, 36 Parnell Square West
Teams of 4, €5 per person
Feel Free to make a donation or bring a prize!
Tell Your Friends and Spread the Word
Doctors For Choice Publish Abortion Fact Sheets in Ireland
via Fact Sheets
“Spokesperson for Doctors for Choice, Dr Tiernan Murray said:
“As doctors we practice based on evidence and facts, and to help reduce misinformation and spread facts about abortion we have developed a series of factsheets with different topic areas: mental health, common mistruths, medical abortion, surgical abortion and the impact the Eighth Amendment has on consultations with doctors. The public deserves medical facts and knowledge about abortion: a safe and sometimes necessary part of a women’s reproductive healthcare.”
Dr Murray continued: “Many Irish people, both women and men understand very little about the procedure of abortion and must rely on often inaccurate and sensationalized information to make decisions and shape opinions about Irish abortion provision. Poor, or inadequate or often absent information increases the already substantial stigma present in Ireland about abortion and perpetuates myths and judgments about abortion as a medical procedure, and about the women who have abortions.”
“During the St Patrick’s Day festival, where people all over the world celebrate Irish culture, we want to give people the information to have conversations about the realities of abortion in Ireland, free from myths and scaremongering.”
He concluded: “As doctors, we want to support all of our patients to make informed, healthcare decisions that are best for them in their individual circumstance. We hope these factsheets will help the public better understand the facts about abortion and help to destigmatise it.”
Tomás Ó Flatharta 