Workers Solidarity Movement

Ask yourself a question. A relative, a friend, a neighbour, a co-worker or a stranger on a bus comes to you and says that they were pregnant but exercised their right to choose and secured a termination. Would you then imprison them for 14 years?

 

If you wouldn’t jail someone for exercising their right to choose, then you might consider joining the 4th Annual March for Choice will take place in Dublin this Saturday, 26th September. The day marks the Global Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion. The march will assemble at the Garden of Remembrance from 1:30pm.

 

As things stand in Ireland, securing an abortion in Ireland is virtually impossible. Pregnancies must be carried to term in almost all circumstances, including where there is a significant risk to your health and including where a foetus is unlikely to survive. Abortion is allowed only if you are in immediate danger of dying. Even here, the 8th Amendment to the 1937 Irish Constitution, passed in 1983, places the right to life of the foetus on an equal footing with the right to life of the woman.

 

For those who would exercise their right to choose, breaking Ireland’s abortion laws could get you 14 years in jail. If you are a healthcare provider and refer a woman to seek an abortion abroad, you may face a fine of up to €4,000.

 

Many women have instead exercised their right to choose by travelling to secure a termination. Every year, some 4,000 women, young and old, leave Ireland to have an abortion in the UK. Forcing people out of the country in this manner has damaging emotional and psychological consequences, making what can be a difficult or lonely situation even worse in the absence of networks of supportive friends and family. It also places abortion out of reach for those who are unable to travel – for reasons of insufficient money, uncertain visa status, cis-gender identity issues, or simply lack of self-assurance.

 

We anarchists of the Workers Solidarity Movement think that access to abortion should be free, safe and legal. An anarchist society is one in which all people – men, women, trans* - are free to make choices about their own lives. This includes choices about whether or not to become pregnant, remain pregnant or to have children by any means. We do not look to legislators to improve our lives: we look to one another instead.

 

This Saturday, we will march for choice. We want to walk side-by-side with those who have exercised their right to choose. We want to demonstrate solidarity with those 4, 000 women who are forced to travel for abortions every year. We want to say to them ‘You are not alone’.

 

This Saturday, we will march for choice. Will you?

 

REFERENCES

More information on the Abortion Rights Campaign is available at www.abortionrightscampaign.ie.

 

The Workers Solidarity Movement has a long, proud history of supporting women’s right to choose. Our coverage of Choice activism and associated issues is available at http://www.wsm.ie/medical-abortion

 

For updates on pro-choice struggles and coverage of the demonstration, like and follow us at https://www.facebook.com/SolidarityTimes