Alliance for Choice Pickets the Dail on March 12

Tuesday March 11, 2003 22:13

by John Meehan

The Alliance for Choice will protest at the Dáil at 13.00 on Wednesday March 12. The Alliance, which is campaigning for safe, free, legal abortion to be available in Ireland, wants the government to recognise the needs of women who travel abroad for abortions.

Pro-Choice group protests at Dáil
Wednesday, March 12, 13.00

The Alliance for Choice will protest at the Dáil at 13.00 on Wednesday March 12. The Alliance, which is campaigning for safe, free, legal abortion to be available in Ireland, wants the government to recognise the needs of women who travel abroad for abortions.

Sinéad Kennedy said:
“It’s over a year since the referendum defeat, and the government has made no move on legislation they promised. Yet over 7,000 women still leave Ireland every year, to make a lonely and sometimes risky journey abroad for an abortion. And we now have a regime of self-censorship - where those who have information on abortion can’t give it, and the women who need it can’t get it. It’s time Fianna Fáil and the PDs recognised these womens needs. We want at least the same abortion services here as are available in Britain to women who travel there from Ireland for abortions.”

Ivana Bacik said:
“It’s 20 years since the constitutional amendment that restricted abortion rights in Ireland; 11 years since the Supreme Court said that the risk of suicide was grounds for abortion here; and a year since this government was defeated in an attempt to further restrict a womans right to abortion. Public opinion in Ireland has changed since 1983. A majority now support abortion to be available in Ireland under certain circumstances. It’s high time that politicians caught up with the views of ordinary people and began the process of legalising abortion in Ireland.”

Quotes end.

The Alliance for Choice is a recently formed network of pro-choice activists who worked together to defeat the Governments anti-abortion referendum last year. The Alliance will be campaigning over the coming years for the legalisation of abortion in Ireland. A major event is planned for September, to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the 8th Amendment to the Constitution.