Every 30 September, people from all over the country gather at the March for Choice in Dublin to march in solidarity to Repeal the 8th Amendment. This year, with a potential referendum just around the corner, it's as important as ever to stand together to Repeal the 8th. The Citizens' Assembly has shown that Ireland is pro-choice, and it's as important as ever for us to have our voices heard and to start conversations about women's reproductive rights in Ireland today. In our predominantly Catholic country, there's always been a stigma surrounding abortion - but to break down said stigmas we need to start conversations with one another.
The 8th Amendment was introduced in 1983, during a time in which the Catholic church had a massive influence on Irish society, but the Ireland we live in today is extremely different to the Ireland of then. The country is considerably more liberal, and is no longer influenced as strongly by the Catholic Church. The 8th Amendment equates the life of an unborn fetus to that of the woman carrying it - it treats pregnant women as merely a vessel to carry a baby in, a human incubator, as opposed to a complete human with needs and rights. The 8th Amendment is completely outdated and wrong today - the UN has criticized it calling it cruel, inhuman or degrading.
And furthermore, the ban on abortions in Ireland does not stop them from taking place - between January 1980 and December 2016, at least 170,216 women and girls had to travel from the Republic of Ireland to access abortion services in another country. The presence of the Eighth Amendment creates a massive disadvantage to the health of Irish women - it merely makes accessing abortions more difficult and dangerous for Irish women, and puts the most vulnerable women, who cannot travel for an abortion, at the highest risk. The Eighth Amendment also makes illegal abortions more widespread across Ireland. Abortion is currently allowed on demand in other countries such as the UK and the US, so surely the same should apply in Ireland?
The abortion debate is treated with a massive amount of caution, and is an extremely controversial issue, but personally, I don't believe it needs to be as controversial as it is. Being pro-choice isn't about how comfortable you are with abortion, or about your views on the morality of the unborn, or whether you'd have an abortion yourself or not - the pro-choice stance is merely about trusting women to make their own decisions about their own bodies, based on what they need to do due to their own current circumstances. Being pro-choice means choosing to be non-judgemental and compassionate, and allowing women to do what they must. Because abortion should be a personal choice, and not a nationwide debate.
To change our country's attitude towards the 8th Amendment, it's important for us to speak out in whatever ways we can. Attend protests and marches, sign petitions, attend talks and email your TDs. Or even just post online and start conversations with friends and family, because it's the little changes that matter. And if you're free this weekend, I highly recommend attending the March for Choice.