Abortion has long been available to those who can afford it
■ The medical, legal and political crises the Eighth Amendment has caused since 1983 and the international embarrassment and censure it has brought on Ireland are enough to tell us we should vote ‘yes’ for repeal in the coming referendum.
It is time to face up to the self-delusion, hypocrisy and ignorance of medical issues that have prevented us from addressing this issue years ago.
Firstly, we need to recognise that the Eighth Amendment does not stop abortions. From the outset, it has only stopped those who could not afford to travel from accessing safe and legal care.
Secondly, we need to remind ourselves that in 1992 we voted overwhelmingly for two related amendments that guarantee our right to access information on abortion services outside Ireland and our freedom to travel outside Ireland for abortions.
That is, we provided a constitutional guarantee that whoever has the necessary money can evade the restrictions of the Eighth. They have a readily accessible choice of abortion services in any of the 25 EU countries in which abortion is available on request in early pregnancy.
Thirdly, the abortion pill, taken very early in pregnancy, is transforming access for those in Ireland who cannot afford to travel but our laws mean that they face up to 14 years in prison for doing the very thing we guarantee as a right to those wealthy enough to go abroad.
Fourthly, there is nothing new or untried about the abortion pill. For example, it has been used legally in France since the 1980s and in 2017 the Scottish government made it legal to take it at home rather than in a clinic.
The silencing and chilling effect of the Eighth Amendment has kept us in the dark about such new developments. More importantly, it prevents women who take the pill in Ireland from accessing medical and other services.
The next point can be hard to face if our own experiences of pregnancy have been happy and problem-free. It is that, as perinatal psychiatrist Dr Anthony McCarthy told the Oireachtas committee: “While having a baby is, hopefully, and fortunately for many, one of the most joyful and rewarding and meaningful experiences of their lives, as you all know, it is also unfortunately often not like this.”
The Eighth Amendment impacts most cruelly on couples in this position: something a United Nations committee recently recognised when it ordered Ireland to pay substantial compensation to two women forced to travel to terminate for medical reasons.
Dr Sandra McAvoy
Address with editor