On Friday, the Republic of Ireland will hold a national referendum on whether to repeal the 8th amendment of the Irish Constitution. If successful, the Irish government would then have the power to change laws that currently prevent women from having an abortion unless their life is at substantial risk.
This post isn’t really about the referendum, so if you want more details about the vote or the arguments put forward by both sides, you can find them here. You shouldn’t need details though, everybody should have access to an abortion if they want one – it really is as simple as that.
It’s important to note that while this issue predominately affects women, some trans men and non-binary people are often hurt by Ireland’s 8th amendment. I want this post to be as inclusive as it can be and if I fail at that, please let me know and I’ll change it.
Anyway, this post isn’t really about educating or informing anybody about the referendum, it’s about what people in the UK can do to help people affected by Ireland’s cruel abortion laws.
Unfortunately, there’s little you can do to affect the referendum itself because it’s essentially none of the UK’s business. Obviously, raising awareness of the vote is a good thing to do and you should absolutely post about it on social media – so get #repealthe8th and #together4yes trending.
Affecting abortion laws in Northern Ireland is a different story though. Despite being a part of the UK, Northern Ireland wasn’t included in the 1967 Abortion Act so abortion is still illegal there, but there are a few things you can do to put pressure on policy-makers in Belfast.
First and foremost, you can send an email or a letter to your MP, which might not sound like much but is actually a pretty big deal. It doesn’t matter who your MP is, their job is to serve the needs of their constituents – i.e. you! It doesn’t matter if you voted for them, they have to represent you and they have to respond to your communications.
Ultimately, this means that enough people write to an MP about liberalising the abortion laws in Northern Ireland, they have to do something about it – even if that is only raising the issue with the appropriate minister. I can’t stress enough how important this is and there are great resources available to make it even easier to contact your MP.
The second way to help is to support charities and organisations that work directly with people who are affected by a lack of access to abortion.
When people living in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland need a safe and legal abortion, often their only option is to travel to England, Scotland or Wales, and have it performed there.
Nearly 4,500 women go through this every year and not only can this be horrible experience for many people, it’s also an expensive one. As well as paying for transport and accommodation, many also have to pay for the treatment itself because they can’t have an NHS-funded abortion in England.
Obviously, this means that certain groups of people are disproportionately affected by the issue because they’re less likely to be able to afford to make the journey – namely people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, migrants, and trans, intersex or non-binary people.
I want to highlight two absolutely brilliant charities who are helping people affected by the lack of access to safe and legal abortions: The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) and the Abortion Support Network (ASN).
If you can afford to donate something to either (or both) of these charities, please do. Donating in the next few days would be especially powerful and hopefully send a message of solidarity with people affected by the issue.
Apologies again if I’ve not been as inclusive as I should be, or I’ve got something wrong – feel free to yell at me. I know this is a pretty piss poor attempt at doing something to help but even if it just persuades one family member or friend to donate, it’ll be worthwhile.
Oh, and once more for everyone who missed it the first time:
ALL PREGNANT PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO SAFE AND LEGAL ABORTION, NO MATTER WHAT THE CIRCUMSTANCES
No comments:
Post a Comment