No More X Cases - Let Women Decide
Fianna
Fail and the PDs want to overturn the X case judgement and ban abortions
for women who are suicidal. They are cynically playing with the health
and lives of Irish women in order to further their political fortunes.
The scaremongers in the government would have us believe that women with the collusion of the mental health profession will literally be queing up to pretend that they are suicidal in order to obtain an abortion. In both the 'X' and 'C' cases the young women were suicidal because of the circumstances surrounding their pregnancies.
This referendum denies the gravity of suicide, and dimisses it as a 'real' threat to a woman's life. According to constitutional lawyers if this referendum is passed then there is a real possibility that we will have more 'X' and 'C' type cases.
Young women who are in health board care who have been raped and are pregnant and suicidal will not automatically be entitled to travel to Britain for an abortion. Instead they may have to be hauled in front of a court to determine whether they have the right to travel.
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The government and their cohorts in the misnamed 'pro-life' movement are attempting to introduce a constitutional change that continues to ignore the reality that is Ireland in 2002. This amendment will not change the fact that an estimated 7,000 women will still travel to Britain for an abortion this year. It will do nothing to alleviate the trauma of making this trip. It will do nothing to lessen the risk to their health because they are more likely to have late abortions.
It will reinforce the difficulty faced by many women, especially working class women, of having to find €1000+ to cover the cost of travel plus accommodation and the medical procedure. The government want to ignore these realities, whilst at the same time accepting that abortion is 'tolerable' as long as the Irish women who have abortions get them outside of this State's jurisdiction.
The proposal is disgustingly dishonest and is a cowardly avoidance of the real issue at hand. It demonstrates that contrary to their propaganda and slogans, that neither the government nor the so-called 'pro-life' groups give a damn about women, some of whom could have been the victims of terrible crimes.
Abortion is a reality which has been faced by tens of thousands of Irish women and will be faced by tens of thousands more. Legislation should not be brought in that flies in the face of that reality. There are very real medical, social and economic reasons why women feel that they can't go through with a pregnancy and therefore the Socialist Party believes these women should have the right to choose and that abortion should be legal within this state.
On the 6th March the Socialist Party calls on you to vote NO in order to defend women's rights.
The Socialist Party Stands For:
The 25th Amendment to the Constitution:
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Will lead to more 'X' and 'C' cases |
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Denies the gravity of suicide, and dismisses it as a real threat to a woman's life |
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Imposes a 12 year sentence on women who procure an abortion in Ireland outside of the most exceptional circumstances |
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Ignores the plight of the 7000 women who travel each year to Britain for an abortion |
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Is an attack on womens' rights |