Sir, – Any women who has the right to travel and sufficient funds will be able to go to England to have an abortion, if she decides to do so. Any women whose right to travel is restricted or who does not have access to that money will, however, be subject to the new legislation, having to face a panel that decides on her fate. The issue of being suicidal is not really of any consequence here.
The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution and the new legislation only ever affect an already disadvantaged and marginalised minority. Everybody else deals with a termination the way they decide for themselves and does not have to worry about these things too much, as there is always the option of a trip to England.
At the inevitable next abortion referendum, most Irish voters will therefore again be in a position to contemplate the sanctity of life and the right of the unborn in the safe knowledge that the issue is really only an academic one for them.
And they might even feel pleased with themselves for having taken a “moral stand”. – Yours, etc,
YVONNE HALTON,
Clooneyquinn,
Elphin,
Co Roscommon.
Sir, – When will the conversation turn from women’s reproductive rights (which are many, let’s be frank, from myriad forms of contraception to the morning-after pill to the freedom, albeit fiscally defined at present, to decide to abort a pregnancy) to men’s reproductive rights, which are basically nil? When are we going to discuss a father’s rights? – Yours, etc,
ANNE-MARIE CURTIN,
Ballinlough Road,
Cork.
Sir, – I would like to thank Ruth Cullen for her considered and intelligent column on abortion (“Advocates of abortion ignoring a little truth”, Opinion, August 21st). It is by far the most level-headed and caring piece I have read on the subject.
I need to add that I am not a practising member of any religion and my thoughts on the subject centre on the care we should give young women and their babies in a crisis pregnancy. – Yours, etc,
KAY O’BRIEN,
Seafield Court,
Killiney,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – In her trenchant defence of the pro-life campaign’s position on Article 40.3.3 of Bunreacht na hÉireann, Dr Ruth Cullen writes: “Thanks in significant part to our constitutional protection of the unborn child the Irish abortion rate is far lower than Britain’s”. If the Eighth Amendment were to be repealed, it’s fair to assume there would be a marked decrease in Britain’s abortion rate. – Yours, etc,
PAUL DELANEY,
Beacon Hill,
Dalkey,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – We are people in or from Ireland. We are under the age of 50. We could not vote in the 1983 abortion referendum which profoundly limited women’s autonomy. No subsequent referendum has provided an opportunity to undo that damage. Many of us have lived our whole lives under an abortion regime in which we have had no say. As a generation we have grown up knowing that the State would compel us to travel if we wished to exercise substantive control over our reproductive lives. We never allowed ourselves to think, at least since Miss X, that we lived under a regime willing in principle to marshal its power against a distressed young woman to compel her to carry her pregnancy to viability.
We have never been given the democratic opportunity to expand the circumstances in which an abortion can be sought in Ireland. We have repeatedly asked for this chance, but the State failed to listen. The law punishes women in our name, but never bore our mark. We are disappointed and concerned by the latest news, but we know that disappointment and concern are not enough. It is time that this generation had its referendum. That referendum must transform the law on access to abortion care.
Women in and from Ireland are entitled to autonomy, to bodily integrity, to be free from unjustified detention, to be free from inhuman and degrading treatment. Women in and from Ireland should not have to expose or prove vulnerabilities and private matters in order to access medical treatment.
As long as the Constitution confers equal rights on the mother and the foetus, doctors and nurses will be unable to treat women ethically. As long as the Constitution remains as it is, those privileged enough to afford to travel will make those difficult journeys without the support they need.
As long as the Constitution remains as it is, we consign the most vulnerable women and girls in our society to a system which will not listen to them, which will not give them any say over their own bodies, which will prioritise birth over any long-term trauma caused to them.
The people should be given the opportunity to repeal the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution and to enact a law that places women’s capacity to make decisions regarding their bodies and their futures at the heart of their medical treatment. The Government claims it has no mandate to act on the Eight Amendment. This group of over 100 academics, comprising women and the men who support us, adds its voice to the demands that the Government finally listens, finally acknowledges that this mandate exists and finally gives us our referendum. – Yours, etc,
1. Prof Jack Anderson, School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast
2. Dr Elizabeth Aston, Edinburgh Napier University
3. Ivana Bacik, Reid Professor of Criminal Law, Law School, Trinity College Dublin
4. Dr Helen Basini, Dept. of Politics and Public Administration, University of Limerick
5. Prof Christine Bell, University of Edinburgh
6. Claire Bracken, Associate Professor, Union College, Schenectady, NY
7. Claire Bruton, BL
8. Dr Audrey Bryan, Lecturer in Sociology, Dublin City University
9. Dr Michelle Butler, School of Sociology, Queen’s University Belfast
10. Dr Susan Cahill, School of Canadian Irish Studies, Concordia University, Montreal
11. Dr Nicola Carr, School of Sociology, Queen’s University Belfast
12. Mr Donal Casey, Kent Law School
13. Professor Danielle Clarke, University College Dublin
14. Professor Claire Connolly, University College Cork
15. Dr Vicky Conway, Kent Law School
16. Dr Íde Corley, Lecturer in English, NUI Maynooth
17. Dr Louise Crowley, Dept of Law, University College Cork
18. Dr Pauline Cullen, NUI Maynooth
19. Dr Aoife Daly, School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool
20. Dr John Danaher, Lecturer in Law, NUI Galway
21. Hilary Darcy, PhD researcher, Department of Sociology, NUI Maynooth
22. Dr Fergal Davis, University of New South Wales
23. Mr Alan Desmond, European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation
24. Dr Darren Dinsmore, Kent Law School
25. Sonya Donnelly, B.L.
26. Dr Fiona Donson, University College Cork
27. Dr Deirdre Duffy, Edge Hill University
28. Dr Fiona Dukelow, University College, Cork
29. Professor Fiona De Londras, Durham Law School
30. Ms Mairead Enright, Kent Law School
31. Dr Michelle Farrell, Lecturer in Law, University of Liverpool
32. Dr Helen Finch, University of Leeds
33. Dr Clara Fischer, Gender Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science
34. Dr Ruth Fletcher, School of Law, Queen Mary University London
35. Ms Christine Gaffney, Dept of Applied Social Studies, UCC
36. Dr Daragh Grant, University of Chicago
37. Dr Diarmuid Griffin, NUI Galway
38. Dr Claire Hamilton, School of Sociology, Queen’s University Belfast
39. Niamh Hayes, Ph.D. candidate, Irish Centre for Human Rights
40. Professor Patrick Hanafin, School of Law, Birkbeck
41. Dr Maebh Harding, Assistant Professor, University of Warwick
42. Dr Sarah Hayden, School of English, University College Cork
43. Dr Edel Hughes, School of Business and Law, University of East London
44. Dr Jonathan Illan, University of Kent
45. Dr Declan Kavanagh, University of Kent
46. Jennifer Kavanagh, Law Lecturer, Waterford IT
47. Dr Michael Kearney, University of Sussex
48. Fiona Kearney, Director, Lewis Glucksman Gallery
49. Dr Cliona Kelly, Cardiff Law School
50. Dr Louise Kennefick, School of Law, Maynooth University
51. Elizabeth Kiely, School of Applied Social Studies, UCC
52. Stefanie Lehner, Queen’s University Belfast
53. Dr Maebh Long, University of the South Pacific
54. Dr Madeleine Lyes, University College Dublin
55. Dr Orla Lynskey, Assistant Professor of Law, London School of Economics
56. Dr Louise Mallinder, School of Law, University of Ulster
57. Dr Paula Mayock, Trinity College Dublin
58. Adam McAuley, School of Law and Government, DCU
59. Dr Julie McCandless, Law Department, London School of Economics
60. Fiona McCann, Senior Lecturer, Université de Lille 3, France
61. Ms Claire McGing, NUI Maynooth
62. Dr Joe McGrath, Dept of Law, NUI Galway
63. Sheelagh McGuinness, University of Birmingham
64. Ms Aisling McMahon, Newcastle Law School
65. Dr Siobhán McPhee, University of British Columbia, Canada
66. Caroline Meenan, BL
67. Dr Lucy Michael, Lecturer in Criminology, University of Hull
68. Dr Marie Moran, College Lecturer, UCD School of Social Justice
69. Jane Mulcahy, Independent Legal and Social Policy Researcher
70. Nicola Murphy, School of Law, National University of Ireland, Galway.
71. Dr Claire Murray, Dept of Law, University College Cork
72. Mr Colin Murray, Newcastle Law School
73. Ms Anne Neylon, PhD Candidate, Dept of Law, University College Cork
74. Professor Aoife Nolan, School of Law, University of Nottingham
75. Briege Nugent, University of Edinburgh
76. Ms Bríd Ní Ghráinne, School of Law, University of Sheffield
77. Dr Aoife O’Donoghue, Durham Law School
78. Connor O’Donoghue, School of Education, Trinity College Dublin
79. Dr Katherine O’Donnell, UCD Women’s Studies Centre
80. Dr Clíona Ó Gallchoir, School of English, University College Cork
81. Dr Linda O’Keeffe, Lancaster Institute of Contemporary Art
82. Dr Margaret O’Neill, School of Culture and Communication, University of Limerick
83. Dr Catherine O’Rourke, School of Law, University of Ulster
84. Dr Catherine O’Sullivan, Dept of Law, University College Cork
85. Dr Emer O’Toole, School of Canadian Irish Studies, Concordia University
86. Dr Tina O’Toole, School of Culture & Communication, University of Limerick
87. Dr Sinead Pembroke, Research Fellow, Trinity College Dublin
88. Prof Clionadh Raleigh, University of Sussex
89. Dr Sinead Ring, Kent Law School
90. Ms Jane Rooney, Durham Law School
91. Dr Edel Semple, School of English, University College Cork
92. Dr Olivia Smith, Dublin City University
93. Dr Joseph Spooner, Assistant Professor, LSE Department of Law
94. Dr Ciara Staunton, Department of Medicine, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
95. Dr Gavin Titley, NUI Maynooth
96. Dr Sharon Thompson, Keele University
97. Dr Liam Thornton, University College Dublin
98. Ms Anwen Tormey, University of Chicago
99. Dr Sorcha Uí Chonnachtaigh, School of Law & Centre for Professional Ethics, Keele University
100. Dr Illan Rua Wall, Associate Professor, University of Warwick
101. Dr Judy Walsh, Equality Studies, University College Dublin
102. Ms Malgorzata Wronska, NUI Galway