In a statement tonight, Cardinal Seán Brady said the judgment "leaves future policy in Ireland on protecting the lives of unborn children in the hands of the Irish people and does not oblige Ireland to introduce legislation authorising abortion".
He said profound moral and legal issues were raised by the ruling. "The direct destruction of an innocent human life can never be justified, however difficult the circumstances. . . . No law which subordinates the rights of any human being to those of other human beings can be regarded as a just law."
Says the man who covered up child rape and protected serial paedophile Brendan Smith. I think we've heard enough from you Brady. You do not get to have an opinion on this.
Am amazed that as a celibate male you seem to think your view on this issue matters. Fuck off already.
As for
The direct destruction of an innocent human life can never be justified, however difficult the circumstances
except, it seems when priests rape children and people like you cover it up.
Between newspapers, economists, television, job, stress, depression, I haven't had a lot of time to blog. It's not for want of topics but there is a listlessness to writing about Ireland. The people are shackled to a four year plan negotiated by an illegitimate government known to be corrupt. I can barely afford heating since the last budget and everything seems hopeless. There needs to be a new way but vested interests maintain the status quo. But today there is an issue that I still feel passionate about - a woman's right to choose to terminate her pregnancy.
Women have been terminating pregnancies for centuries. There are a number of fascinating books on the subject and one truth emerges in all societies studies, both ancient and modern is that prohibition of abortion does not lower the number of actual abortions. Prohibition of abortion just drives people into debt, illness and death.
So why can't government inject a soupcon of pragmatism into the debate. Legalising abortion saves lives - real lives, the lives of humans already in existence. Exchanging one life for a potential life is a bad deal. Why gamble with life already in existance?
I'm pro choice. It's my body and my health. But pro choice is so much more than just pro abortion. It's sex education. It's birth control. It's the price of condoms. It's that forced pregnancy is a human rights violation. Ireland has some of most expensive condoms in Europe. In 96, I got my first sex ed class, wherein the lecturer declared that men would only marry virgins, and spent the rest of the time talking at yes about our first periods. At the age of 17 this was six years too late.
A Red C poll in January of this year found out that
Some 60% of young people want abortion legalised here, it has emerged.
According to a Red C poll in today's Irish Examiner, 10% of 18-34 year olds have been involved in a relationship where an abortion took place.
It pays to be pragmatic. Legalising abortion saves women's lives. The thing is that women will have abortions regardless of the law because each person knows what is best for their situation.
Ireland claims to be pro-life but Ireland isn't pro life. Ireland is caught in a Catholic ethos despite the revelations of those pulpit preachers. It's the old story of keeping up appearances. Isn't that why so many girls and women ended up in Magdalene laundries where they worked without pay until they died. No boys or men were similarly imprisoned for the crime of having sex or getting raped or being considered too pretty.
Ireland doesn't care about children. That much is clear from the Ryan Report, the Murphy Report, and the revelations about "care" of children by the HSE. Hundreds of children were buried in unmarked graves after being beaten to death. Where is the outcry? Hundreds of thousands of children were sent to hell in the industrial schools. People knew and did nothing. Doctors, nurses, gardaí and families knew what happened and did nothing. Everyone is shocked now that denial is no longer an option. But the state continues to negotiate with the 18 orders. They negotiate with child abusers and rapists. Few criminal charges have been brought.
I've been raped twice. If I had fallen pregnant you can be damned sure that I would have made sure that I had the choice whether to continue the pregnancy. If I would have to, I would beg, borrow or steal the money to travel to France to get an abortion.
One in every four children will experience sexual abuse. One in every three women under the age of 40 will be raped. To force these women and children to continue a pregnancy through rape is to retraumatise her and re-enforces the commonly held view that women and girl's lives are of lesser importance than a fetus. Forced pregnancy is a human rights violation.
Today's ruling, at least, forces the government to legislate for the Supreme Court decision in the X case. So little by little we chip away at misogynistic old laws. Maybe, eventually, we can value women and our decisions.
Leo Varadkar of Fine Gael was in the Sindo (h/t FMC) and shared his wisdom with the plain people of Ireland. Most of it was standard pandering to the electorate but there were two sections that set my teeth on edge.
Firstly, Leo declares that he's not sexist and then he undermines his own arguments.
Even though he dishes out stinging criticism in the Dail, he finds some of the criticism of himself hard to take, particularly Mary Coughlan's allegations of sexism. "I thought it was very unfair. If anything I went easier on her because she was a woman. She's accused everyone of sexism! Nobody that I know would ever say that I'm sexist. Most people would accept it was the last line of defence for Mary Coughlan."
Now I am no fan of Coughlan. I think she is incompetent and out of her depth but the thing about feminism is that I will call out attacking someone based on gender (or sexuality, gender-identity, skin colour etc...). What Leo said was
You are unable to talk to business people and when you do the language you use is often inappropriate and vulgar
Ah, inappropriate language. Vulgarity. A classic attack leveled at women as soon as they started getting uppity and wanting to be treated equally. Attacking Coughlan for the language she uses would be comical if taken in context with other leaders.
My most cringeworthy moment upon hearing a politican was Bertie Ahern giving a speech at the opening of the 58th General Assembly in the UN in New York. In front of the leaders of the world, he said
...If we did not have already have such an organisation, we would surely have to invent it...let us ask not what the United Nations can do for us, but what we can do for the United Nations...He has not shrunk from grasping the nettle of reform, and in his address to this Assembly he called on the members of this organisation to grasp it with him
Now that was cringeworthy - stealing and paraphrasing lines from Voltaire; using the tired phraseology from JFK; and ridiculous similes. I would have fired the speechwriter. In one fifteen minute speech, Ahern told the whole world that Ireland has no originality.
As for Coughlan, personal attacks on her clothes and personality are sexist. Also, it's not like Leo attacked Cowen for missing two press conferences in Japan because he was too drunk to attend. Or Cowen's "ring those fuckers...". O'Dea's brothel remarks passed unnoticed except for a wink wink nudge nudge until it was revealed he lied under oath.
And then we come to the abortion part of Leo's beliefs.
Despite his medical background, his views on some controversial medical issues are quite black and white -- such as abortion. "I would accept a lot of Catholic social teaching. I'm not a practising religious person, but I would accept that. I wouldn't be in favour of abortion. The only thing that would be a grey area is if there's a genuine threat or risk to the life of the mother."
So even though he has a considerable experience with medicine, and knowing that one third of pregnancies spontaneously abort in the first trimester, he resorts to the teachings of a patriarchal institution (that covered up rape, torture and emotional violence) that cannot maintain consistency in its own teachings. Remember Thomas Aquinas, Albertus, Giles of Rome and Pope John XXI, their teachings on the nature of soul and their de facto acceptance of first trimester abortions.
What about the provision of abortion services for rape victims? "I wouldn't be in favour of it in that case, and, you know, first of all, it isn't the child's fault that they're the child of rape. You can say the same thing about disabled children. You know, some people would make that argument in favour of abortion. It's not their fault they're disabled. I wouldn't be in favour of it in those circumstances either.
As an almost doctor Leo should know that in the first trimester, the result of fertilisation is an embryo not a child.
“Pro-choice” does not mean “pro-abortion”; it means supporting women’s rights to self-determination over their bodies. “Fetuses” are not “babies”; fetuses exist in the womb, babies exist outside of the womb. “Human” does not equal “person”; human is the biological name of our species, personhood involves moral agency.
A child does not need the life of another to survive. A person cannot be forced to surrender their freedom to another. Forced pregnancy is a human rights violation banned by the UN.
"Even, how would that work practically? Would someone have to prove that they've been raped? I think where that's been brought in in countries it has more or less led to abortion on demand," he adds.
Ah, ignorance again. How to prove someone was raped? Well generally considering the level of rape in this country, the rape culture and the blackening of a survivor's character and sexual history, you could believe the person.
There's nothing wrong with abortion on demand. That's how it should be. I suspect Leo means that them silly womans will use abortion as contraception and will think that they actually should have control of their bodies.
Is it not double standards to have more than 5,000 women a year travelling to the UK and elsewhere for abortions? "I don't think that's double standards. People travel overseas to do things overseas that aren't legal in Ireland all the time. You know, are we going to stop people going to Las Vegas? Are we going to stop people going to Amsterdam? There are things that are illegal in Ireland and we don't prevent people from travelling overseas to avail of them."
Fatmammycat makes the ever relevant point that Leo could never get pregnant anyway. It's all academic to him. If Leo really believes that abortion is murder than he should be legislating against it. How about imprisoning women who have abortions. Stand up in Dail and say that then. Have the courage of your convictions Leo. Instead of allowing women basic human rights, he is fine with just ignoring the problem and hoping it goes away. Meanwhile, women are travelling for abortions are in a legal grey area, without support, getting into debt.
The thing is that abortions have always happened. Women always have the knowledge of how to terminate pregnancies. Now there are safe ways to do so and legally Irish women are blocking from accessing medical care. The thing about governing is that you have to recognise the society you have and not the society you think you should have. Dev thought that comely maidens should dance at crossroads but now we know that, had they done so, they would have been enslaved in laundries by society and the all powerful, ever controlling Catholic church.
When it comes to abortion, Ireland is hypocritical. As I have written before:
What about the cost of condoms? They are prohibitively expensive for teenagers and young adults. Even adults might have difficulty paying these prices. According to condoms.ie, a package of 12 durex varies from €10.49 to €16.45. €16.45 is a ridiculous price to pay for 12 pieces of latex. The equivalent in France is €6.80 but condoms are distributed in schools free of charge on AIDS awareness day.
The pragmatic approach would be to have cheap contraception and a comprehensive sex ed programme in schools. But that hasn't happened because of the mentality of ban, ban, ban when you don't or want to understand.
Ultimately it's an issue of control. Well you don't get to control our bodies.
Catholic morals were deeply embedded in Irish society by the theocracy from which Ireland is only now beginning to shake itself loose. Since the middle of the nineteeth century, the Catholic Church took on those responsibilities of the state that were surrendered by England, primarily those concerning education and health.
The Church’s position was solidified after Irish independence, and while the 1937, Constitution granted freedom of religion, it also recognised the “special position of the Holy Catholic Apostolic and Roman Church.” Catholicism and nationalism were tightly linked in the struggle for Irish freedom.
The dominion of the Catholic Church led to the culture of silence around the torture, rape and slavery of children and women by religious congregations and clerics. It was only in the 1970s, with the rise of feminism and freer economic policies, that the iron fist of the Catholic Church loosened around the collective neck of the Irish people.
Today is the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade in the US. That was the decision to legalise abortion. Screaming fundie so-called prolifers have tried to overturn it but with little success.
In Ireland, there is also abortion. We don't talk about it. It's not covered by the media. It's difficult to access and only available to those with disposable income or the ability to get credit. And in this economy, who has access to these?
Women travel to the UK. Women get on buses, boats and planes to get a safe legal abortion. However, because of the secrecy, the stigma, the lies about post-abortion syndrome, the violent protesters, and the stench of corrupted Catholic morality lingering in most homes in Ireland, she goes it alone. No support, no counselling and no trust.
Women deserve better. Listen to Sonya Renee on the subject.
Aside from the facetious "killing babies" argument, spun by those who beat, tortured and raped children in their care, the principle argument against legalising abortion is that women who use it as a form of contraception and have sex with just anyone.
This argument springs from a paternalistic desire to control women's sexuality and choice. It posits the woman as a child and the advocate as just doing what's best for the woman because she cannot be trusted to make decisions about her own body. It is time, long past time that women's rights are respected as human rights. Women have the right to control their bodies. We have been doing it for centuries. I've written more on the subject here.
Historically women used herbs, potions or physical damage to terminate a pregnancy. (Indeed even today I know a woman who used an old Irish recipe to make sure she wouldn't get pregnant.) Pennyroyal, Black Cohosh, blue cohosh and juniper berries have all been used as abortificants but some work by poisoning those who ingest the herbs.
Safe and legal abortions is what is necessary. Criminalising abortion does not prevent abortion. Criminalisating abortion means that it is more difficult and costly to terminate a pregnancy and that people may resort to dangerous methods to do so.
Some 60% of young people want abortion legalised here, it has emerged.
According to a Red C poll in today's Irish Examiner, 10% of 18-34 year olds have been involved in a relationship where an abortion took place.
The only difference is that people are now reporting that they are pro choice. People want to live in a modern secular European democracy. Only with the waning of the power and stranglehold of Catholic Church has that become a real possibility.
There is one proven way to reduce the number of abortions and that is a two pronged strategy. Firstly, give children good sex education, rather than the stuttering "no one will marry you if you are not a virgin" rubbish that currently is being inflicted upon 17 year old students. It is too little and way way too late.
The second element of the strategy is to make contraception easily available and inexpensive. The price of condoms, the pill and other methods is ridiculous. In fact, Ireland is the most expensive country in the world for condoms. The morning after pill still requires a visit to the GP and the obligatory offensive"irresponsible behaviour lecture" by the doc and the pharmacist.
It's time to talk about the reality. These vids were made by the The Safe and Legal (in Ireland) Abortion Rights Campaign. Watch them.
Now you can take important action with them. The Campaign give you a number of options.
Dear PR person responsible for the "Don't be manipulated" poster and the manager who approved it,
Why are you creating posters that posit women as objects rather than adult humans with full agency?
This poster says "shame on you, you mindless puppet, for not knowing that there are partisan anti-abortion agencies trying to counsel you, you stupid little girl, who cannot tell the difference".
How is a poster like that of any use with the woman-as-object, woman-without-agency, woman-as-child imagery?
You show a shocking lack of respect and a tendency to bullying yourselves.
I suggest a sincere apology, rapid withdrawal of the poster and to commit to not using women as objects in any future campaign.
First, let’s get some terms straight. “Pro-choice” does not mean “pro-abortion”; it means supporting women’s rights to self-determination over their bodies. “Fetuses” are not “babies”; fetuses exist in the womb, babies exist outside of the womb. “Human” does not equal “person”; human is the biological name of our species, personhood involves moral agency.
I agree with her definitions completely. I'm pro choice. It's my body and my health. But pro choice is so much more than just pro abortion. Where is the sex education? When I was in fifth year in 1996, we were subjected to a brief talk by a supposed expert who told us that no man would have us if we didn't stay virginal. The advice came a little late for most of the class. I hope there is comprehensive sex education in schools now but somehow I doubt it. Where is the funding for the sex education programmes?
What about the cost of condoms? They are prohibitively expensive for teenagers and young adults. Even adults might have difficulty paying these prices. According to condoms.ie, a package of 12 durex varies from €10.49 to €16.45. €16.45 is a ridiculous price to pay for 12 pieces of latex. The equivalent in France is €6.80 but condoms are distributed in schools free of charge on AIDS awareness day.
I suppose the pro lifers would take a similar attitude to the sex ed I received. But it pays to be pragmatic. Teens are going to have sex with or without protection which may result in pregnancy or STDs. Education is key but hey let's bury our heads in the sand and pretend we live in 1950s Ireland where that sort of stuff didn't happen.
Ireland claims to be pro-life and always there is the "won't somebody think of the children" non-argument. But Ireland isn't pro life. Ireland is caught in a Catholic ethos despite the revelations of those pulpit preachers. It's the old story of keeping up appearances. Isn't that why so many girls and women ended up in Magdalene laundries where they worked without pay until they died. No boys or men were similarly imprisoned for the crime of having sex or getting raped or being considered too pretty.
Ireland doesn't care about children. That much is clear from the Ryan report. Hundreds of children were buried in unmarked graves after being beaten to death. Where is the outcry? Hundreds of thousands of children were sent to hell in the industrial schools. People knew and did nothing. Doctors, nurses, gardaí and families knew what happened and did nothing. Everyone is shocked now that denial is no longer an option. But the state continues to negotiate with the 18 orders. They negotiate with child abusers and rapists. Few criminal charges have been brought.
And people might argue that that's in the past but it isn't. Children are placed in adult psychiatric wards, children's allowance is being cut, children's hospitals are being shut and you still hear the scornful diatribes against single mothers.
No more hiding behind the "murdering babies" straw-argument. If you gave a shit, you'd campaign for the children that are alive rather than a bunch of cells that merely has the potential.
In Ireland we have no legal access to abortion, inflated condom prices and no comprehensive sex education. That is an abysmal state of affairs.
I know a woman who managed to get pregnant by her lover. She's in her 40s and herself and the husband don't have sex any more. She consulted the old fashioned methods of abortion - herbs - and managed to get rid of the fetus. However, these methods are dodgy and dangerous. Millions of women die from illegal abortions all over the world.
I've been raped twice. If I had fallen pregnant you can be damned sure that I would have made sure that I had the choice whether to continue the pregnancy. If I would have to, I would beg, borrow or steal the money to travel to France to get an abortion. Get the fuck out of my decisions.
One in every four children will experience sexual abuse. One in every three women under the age of 40 will be raped. To force these women and children to continue a pregnancy through rape is to retraumatise her and re-enforces the commonly held view that women and girl's lives are of lesser importance than a fetus. Forced pregnancy is a human rights violation.
Listening to the Last Word today disgusted me when the pro-lifer used the words "women deserve better" and it reminded me of this poem by the awesome Sonia Renee. It is very powerful. Listen to it.
