On the day that the European court is ruling on the ABC case guest writer and pro-choice activist Maura Lane reflects on the reality of life for women under Ireland's anti-choice laws and the difficulties faced by the small activist groups such as Choice Ireland and Cork Women’s Right to Choose who lobby and promote the right to choose in Ireland.

I’ve always been pro-choice but never had to say it until I was confronted as a teenager in my local secondary school which was run by nuns. One lunchtime, some girls approved by the school authorities walked around selling badges stating that they resembled the feet of babies in the womb and encouraged us to buy the symbolic badges. Most students ignored them, raising their eyes at their antics and telling them off but a few reluctantly felt pressured to buy and display the forced propaganda.

However the hypocrisy of a good catholic education didn’t escape me a few months later when one girl I knew found herself pregnant and was called to the principal’s office where the nun gloated at the young girl’s situation. Without pity and concern she escorted her haughtily and with cruel-satisfaction through the corridors of the convent school and off the premises. That girl was never able to finish her education. It’s an incident that I never forgot and not just for the neglected Christian values that should have been practised by a role model of society. Since then I’ve been determined to help promote a woman’s right to choose.

Since 1980 nearly 150,000 women from Ireland have travelled to Europe to obtain a medical procedure known as abortion that is legalised in most countries in the EU. The other country is Malta where like Ireland it is a crime to have an abortion. An abortion in Ireland can only be carried out if there is a substantial risk to the life as opposed to the health of the mother as stated in the aftermath of the X case of 1992 where a young girl was raped and travelled to England for an abortion. Her journey was delayed by an injunction at the time by the Attorney General causing thousands of people to protest for her right to travel. Even now, if a woman in Ireland admits to an abortion it carries a life sentence. The recession has worsened the problems of poverty faced by many women, problems compounded by youth and limited travel access for many migrant women. These and the high costs of abortion and travel mean desperate women are resorting to the abortion pill which can be obtained on the internet and that can most possibly lead to harmful consequences Every woman with a crisis pregnancy has their story to tell and yet they are silenced and criminalised unable to confide in friends and family.

In 2009 a case was taken against the state as the Irish Attorney General (and with incredible costs funded by government led by dynasties of old men) defended the antiquated laws by three brave anonymous women known as A, B, C in the European court of Human Rights. These women had their own personal stories regarding their crisis pregnances and made the responsible decision but were unable the right to access to obtain a safe abortion in Ireland. The result: surgery side-effects, costs and complications from their procedures after they returned to Ireland that added to their trauma and worry. It is my belief that the Irish government has for one last time sent their watchdog, the Attorney General like Cerbures from Hades to guard and defend their patriachal and catholic values. It is a pity that they cannot chase criminals and white-collar felons with such vehemence as they do the women of the A, B, and C case. 

Even in 2010, militant pro-life groups such as Youth Defence and Coir have the influence to organise educational events at schools and colleges showing graphic and disturbing propaganda approved by the educational authorities. They have viciously campaigned against the right to set up pro-choice societies in colleges across Ireland such as UCC and NUIG.
It is unknown how the current religious pro-life groups are funded but it is speculated that their finances are sourced mainly from right-wing fundamentalist groups based in America. From my own confrontations, they train their activists to intimidate, shout and push religious icons at women in outside family planning clinics whether or not they are looking for information on abortion leaving them traumatised. Clinics must close when these actions take place. Such is the Christian training of these hypocritical groups. Activist friends of mind have been physically attacked by them and followed by them after demonstrations.

Small activist groups such as Choice Ireland and Cork Women’s Right to Choose lobby and promote the right for abortion in Ireland. With little resources they encourage and promote the access to free contraception and safe and legal abortion in Ireland. It’s not being an easy fight considering the lack of resources from the Crisis Pregnancy agency set up the government in 2001 to assist women with crisis pregnancies. The agency have now since failed women so much that it has been engulfed into the disaster that is the HSE (Health Service Executive). The Executive is already swamped with criticism of its failures such as children dying in their care that cocooning the failed crisis agency is relatively unimportant to them.

Would it really be a crime if there was an abortion clinic set up in Ireland? That a medical clinic could be set for women to safely terminate their pregnancies. UK statistics prove that most women with safe access to information terminate at the 10th week of their pregnancy. Of course you would see pro-lifers and religious bigots attack these clinics but then where were the pro-lifers regarding the children abused in religious institutions such as Goldenbrige or at the hands of Christian Brothers? They receive no criticism from a government that has refused to apologise to the victims of the Madgalene launderies, many who are buried in unmarked graves. Their crime: of being a single mother in Ireland. Their punishment: a life sentence of servility to the religious orders, a lost generation of women. Did the Catholic supporters ever lobby the church to apologise to the survivors and victims of the Madgalene launderies? They did not.

This will be the last victory of a self-righteous and hypocritical mass made of religious groups and extremists who are desperately trying to control women’s lives and the infamous Article 40.3.3 of the Irish constitution. No political party will take a stand for women’s rights and call a referendum nor has any political party taken a pro-choice line. Another anonymous heroine will have to take the stand alongside the young girl in the X Case, the C case, Ms D taking on the laws and the Irish constitution. Women in Ireland, activists and feminists are waiting for the referendum that will have to be forced upon the government. And I will be there at the ballot box thinking of the courage of the three women, A, B, C - the anonymous heroines who fought in the battle for women’s rights. Some day I would like to meet those women and thank them for fighting for me.

WORDS: Maura Lane

Maura Lane speaks on Abortion Rights in Ireland, December 2009 from Paula Geraghty on Vimeo.

Further reading

• The struggle for abortion rights in Ireland (history with photos from 1980's to 2007)
• Repressing Abortion in Ireland - a doctor speaks out
• The situation in the north of Ireland
• WSM policy on Abortion rights