Ireland votes to repeal the 8th amendment in historic abortion referendum – and marks a huge cultural shift
Claire
Pierson, The Conversation, May 26, 2018 6.24pm BST
In a
historic referendum, the Irish people have voted by a landslide to repeal the
8th amendment to the country’s constitution, allowing the government to
legislate for abortion.
PA/Brian
Lawless
|
High-profile
cases such as that of Savita
Halappanavar and Amanda Mellet
resonated with the public conscience and the telling of thousands of everyday
stories illustrated how many women have been affected by the 8th amendment.
Groups such as Termination for Medical Reasons spoke of having to travel abroad
to end pregnancies with foetal anomalies. Projects including In her Shoes and
Not at Home have published stories of abortion travel and buying abortion pills
to end pregnancies alone without support or aftercare. In our research
(led by Dr Fiona Bloomer of Ulster University) on abortion as a workplace
issue, women spoke of the silence and stigma surrounding abortion. They
revealed the costs involved in having to travel, being able to afford or get
leave from work, worries about confidentiality and access to follow-up
treatment.
Co-director of Together For Yes Ailbhe Smyth arrives at a count after exit polls suggested a resounding win for her campaign. PA |
Exit
polls also asked people about their reason for voting Yes. They revealed
“women’s right to choose” as the top influencing factor for voters followed by
“risk to health or life”. This is indicative of a wider shift in attitudes
towards women, the impact of the 8th amendment on all pregnancies, and the
recognition that women can be trusted to make decisions about their pregnancy.
What now
for Northern Ireland?
One of
the most heartening things to witness in this campaign was the north-south
solidarity on the island. Alliance for Choice (Northern Ireland’s key
grassroots activist group campaigning for abortion rights in the region)
regularly campaigned for a Yes vote in the Irish counties bordering Northern
Ireland. But what now for Northern Ireland?
As with
the 2015 same-sex marriage referendum, Northern Ireland will again be left
behind on abortion rights. There, approximately 1,000 women travel to England
each year to have an abortion or buy abortion pills online. The situation is
untenable.
A UN inquiry
into Northern Ireland’s abortion laws recently found them to be a grave and
systematic violation of women’s rights. Opinion polls
consistently show strong appetite for change. The UK government allows Northern
Irish women to access abortion freely on the NHS in Britain but appears
unwilling to intervene directly by legislating to enable them to access care in
Northern Ireland.
The final
sentence of the British 1967 Abortion Act states that “This Act does not apply
to Northern Ireland”. It’s vital that now, the solidarity witnessed on the
island of Ireland is also extended to women in the north, by those in England,
Scotland and Wales.