Ireland quietly comes to terms with dramatic change after abortion vote
Dublin: TOI 28.05.2018
Irish people paid homage on Sunday to an Indian immigrant woman whose death inspired a historic vote to repeal Ireland’s strict abortion laws while the Catholic Church rued the outcome saying it showed indifference to its teachings. In a referendum on Friday, the once deeply Catholic nation voted to scrap a prohibition on abortion by a margin of two-to-one.
The vote overturns a law which, for decades, has forced over 3,000 women to travel to Britain each year for terminations that they could not legally have in their own country. “Yes” campaigners had argued that with pills now being bought illegally online abortion was already a reality in Ireland.
Hundreds of people on Sunday continued to leave flowers and candles at a mural in Dublin of Savita Halappanaar, the 31-year-old Indian whose death in 2012 from a septic miscarriage after being refused a termination spurred lawmakers into action.
Katy Gaffney, a 24-year-old baker who travelled to Dublin from Berlin to vote, stood silently in front of the memorial crying. “I am relieved but devastated that it had to come to this,” she said. Otherspinned messages to the wall. One read: “I’m so sorry this happened to you before the country woke up. My vote was for you.” Another: “I’m sorry we let you down. It won’t be in vain.” The campaign was defined by women publicly sharing their experiences of going abroad for procedures, a key reason why all but one of Ireland’s 40 constituencies voted “Yes”.
The government of PM Leo Varadkar, who campaigned to repeal the laws, will begin drafting legislation in the coming week to allow abortions with no restriction up to 12 weeks into a pregnancy by the end of the year. Many lawmakers who campaigned for a “No” vote said they would not try to block the bill.
The outcome was a new milestone for the country of 4.8 million. French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that “Ireland has once again made history.” He called the vote an essential symbol for women’s freedom.
In Britain, Prime Minister Theresa May faces a showdown with ministers and lawmakers in her Conservative party after refusing to back reform of highly restrictive abortion laws in the British province of Northern Ireland which has a 500km border with Ireland. In Ireland though, the once all-powerful Catholic Church, which has seen its public influence collapse since the 1980s after a string of child sex abuse scandals, took a back seat throughout the referendum campaign.
In churches across the country on Sunday there was only regret at the outcome.
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin told parishioners that the church had to “renew its commitment to support life.” REUTERS
Messages are left at a memorial in Dublin to Savita Halappanavar, the 31-year-old Indian dentist whose death in 2012 from a septic miscarriage after being refused a termination spurred lawmakers into action
Dublin: TOI 28.05.2018
Irish people paid homage on Sunday to an Indian immigrant woman whose death inspired a historic vote to repeal Ireland’s strict abortion laws while the Catholic Church rued the outcome saying it showed indifference to its teachings. In a referendum on Friday, the once deeply Catholic nation voted to scrap a prohibition on abortion by a margin of two-to-one.
The vote overturns a law which, for decades, has forced over 3,000 women to travel to Britain each year for terminations that they could not legally have in their own country. “Yes” campaigners had argued that with pills now being bought illegally online abortion was already a reality in Ireland.
Hundreds of people on Sunday continued to leave flowers and candles at a mural in Dublin of Savita Halappanaar, the 31-year-old Indian whose death in 2012 from a septic miscarriage after being refused a termination spurred lawmakers into action.
Katy Gaffney, a 24-year-old baker who travelled to Dublin from Berlin to vote, stood silently in front of the memorial crying. “I am relieved but devastated that it had to come to this,” she said. Otherspinned messages to the wall. One read: “I’m so sorry this happened to you before the country woke up. My vote was for you.” Another: “I’m sorry we let you down. It won’t be in vain.” The campaign was defined by women publicly sharing their experiences of going abroad for procedures, a key reason why all but one of Ireland’s 40 constituencies voted “Yes”.
The government of PM Leo Varadkar, who campaigned to repeal the laws, will begin drafting legislation in the coming week to allow abortions with no restriction up to 12 weeks into a pregnancy by the end of the year. Many lawmakers who campaigned for a “No” vote said they would not try to block the bill.
The outcome was a new milestone for the country of 4.8 million. French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that “Ireland has once again made history.” He called the vote an essential symbol for women’s freedom.
In Britain, Prime Minister Theresa May faces a showdown with ministers and lawmakers in her Conservative party after refusing to back reform of highly restrictive abortion laws in the British province of Northern Ireland which has a 500km border with Ireland. In Ireland though, the once all-powerful Catholic Church, which has seen its public influence collapse since the 1980s after a string of child sex abuse scandals, took a back seat throughout the referendum campaign.
In churches across the country on Sunday there was only regret at the outcome.
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin told parishioners that the church had to “renew its commitment to support life.” REUTERS
Messages are left at a memorial in Dublin to Savita Halappanavar, the 31-year-old Indian dentist whose death in 2012 from a septic miscarriage after being refused a termination spurred lawmakers into action
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