Abortion cannot be exported

■ The fact that we, the Irish people, approved the 13th and 14th Amendments to our Constitution came up a lot in the most recent Dáil debates.

It’s so hard to understand how a country could vote for the right to travel to terminate a pregnancy and to get information on the same but to reject the same happening here – a not-in-myback-yard mentality that we simply can’t continue to have as a country.

Women’s healthcare is not something that can or should be exported. With the abortion pill now freely available on the internet, early term abortions are happening every day in Ireland. We can’t continue to hide from this fact.

Ireland is the place that I chose to settle down, to work and pay taxes, and to have my family. When I made that decision, I didn’t think about my rights to healthcare as a woman. These constraints have only become clear to me over the last few years.

Irish people don’t talk openly about women’s healthcare; in particular the topic of having a baby is only discussed with respect to the wonder of it.

Well, it’s not always a bed of roses. Support only comes when people are open and honest.

We have gained nothing good from our history of hiding, being fearful, being silenced. It’s time to speak up. It’s time to have conversations about this important topic.

Let’s move forward together.

Helena Conlon Loughrea, Co Galway