Sarah Monaghan: To show compassion for women in crisis pregnancies we must repeal the 8th
Tomorrow, the country will finally go to the polls to vote on whether or not we repeal the 8th amendment. It is a historic, once-in-a-generation opportunity for citizens of Ireland to change how we treat and care for women in this country who experience a crisis pregnancy , writes
TOMORROW is a day when voters have an extraordinary amount of power in their hands; the moment when they lift a pencil in the polling booth, each individual makes their mark on a critical national question.
I would urge everyone who is lucky enough to have this democratic power in their hands to go and vote tomorrow – and vote Yes.
Why am I voting Yes?
I am voting YES tomorrow for the women and girls that I love. Because a YES vote means that doctors can do their jobs. Because a YES vote means safe and regulated abortion services under Irish law. Because a YES vote means that we have a better Ireland that cares for women at a time when we need it most.
A no vote means that nothing changes.
Voting no means that next week 9 women will still travel for an abortion in the UK every day and 3 more will still take the abortion pill at home, often alone without medical supervision.
Voting no means that we can do absolutely nothing for women and couples who receive a diagnosis of fatal foetal anomaly.
Voting no means we cannot provide compassionate care to women and girls who are victims of rape and incest.
Ewe & me are Together for Yes!
— Leitrim for Choice (@Leitrim4Choice) May 24, 2018
We're nearly there. #Together4Yes pic.twitter.com/gOk54rW95G
Over the duration of this campaign, we have heard from countless women and couples who shared their experiences with us during this campaign. These are hugely difficult personal and private decisions and yet they felt that they could not stand by and let Irish people go to the polls tomorrow without letting them know how the harms of the 8th Amendment.
Women like Siobhan Donoghue and Arlette Lyons who travelled to Liverpool as her baby had a fatal foetal anomaly. Couples like Gaye and Gerry Edwards; Caroline and Mick Murphy who made similar journeys.
Mothers like Elaine Bedford who spoke out yesterday about her fears for her daughter when she took the abortion pill due to her diabetic condition which made pregnancy dangerous for her.
Doctors across the country have also spoken out on behalf of the women they could not help in the past in the hope that, by doing so, they would be able to help women in the future.
What has been different about this abortion campaign, is what we agree on – abortion is a reality in Ireland and it isn’t going away. So the question facing us tomorrow is whether we want to make abortion safe and legal under Irish laws or whether we want to keep it unregulated and out of the hands of Irish doctors.
What has also been really clarified is that we cannot do anything under Irish law for fatal fetal anomaly without repealing the 8th Amendment.
If you want to change the way Ireland treats women who go through a crisis pregnancy, then vote Yes. Unless we repeal the 8th, nothing will change.
Nothing will change for couples who receive a devastating diagnosis of fatal fetal abnormality. Nothing will change for rape victims who become pregnant. Nothing will change for women whose health is put at risk by a pregnancy.
To achieve change - that is, to provide care and compassion for women in crisis pregnancies – we must repeal the 8th.
