How We Can Mobilise Ourselves To See the 8th Amendment Repealed

A few weeks ago I penned THIS letter to the new government about abortion.

So why did I write this letter? I wrote this letter in response to the results of the general election.  I wrote this letter because I’m a 21-year-old woman who has never had the opportunity to vote on her reproductive rights. I wrote this letter because I’m a 21-year-old woman that is expected to get the boat to England in secrecy and shame if I become pregnant unexpectedly. I wrote this letter because I’m a 21-year-old woman who has to put money aside for an abortion.

The reaction to that letter was interesting, to say the least. When I read through the comments, most people were wondering why I didn’t just buy a box of condoms or go on the pill. I’ve been on the pill since I was 18 but the pill doesn’t work for 3 out of every 100 women. Condoms break, accidents happen, unplanned pregnancies occur and every single time, we get the blame. We’re (as one woman referred to me as) the tramps of the lowest order, we’re the sluts who never learnt to keep our legs closed. We’re the problem, not the 8^th amendment.

We’re all here tonight because we believe that the 8^th amendment needs to be repealed. This is a noble and worthwhile cause but it’s like preaching to the choir. I don’t need to stand here and convince any of you that we need to repeal the 8^th. The fact that you’re sitting here in this room tonight shows me that you want to see the 8^th amendment repealed.  It’s my job to stand before you and encourage you to mobilize yourselves to help repeal the 8^th.

We’re all of the same mindsets. We follow people on social media that tend to be of the same mindset as us. We tend to talk about these issues with our friends and family that tend to have the same mindset as us. Abortion and the 8^th amendment evoke a lot of emotion, especially in Ireland. It’s what makes it an easy subject to talk about with people of the same mindset. It is also what makes it so difficult to talk about with people who don’t. These are the conversations that we now need to have.

During the Marriage Equality referendum, I went canvassing for YesEquality in my local area. I had some excellent and rewarding conversations with people but I also had some really, really difficult conversations. I had doors slammed in my face, I was screamed at and I had people telling me that this was against their religious beliefs. Those experiences and conversations were hard but in the end, the referendum passed. It passed because people faced up to the difficult conversations that had to have with their friends, their families, their colleagues and their communities. People realized that if we wanted to see Marriage Equality pass, we had to converse and to communicate and to have those difficult conversations. Conversations change opinions and can make people see things from a different point of view.

Abortion and repealing the 8^th amendment are no different. We tend to blame the older generations in this country for being against abortion but this isn’t completely true. Young people like Jack Chambers show us proof of this. Now I’m not going to stand here and slag off Jack Chambers because he’s pro-life. I’ve no problem with the fact that he is pro-life, but what I do have a problem with is both him and other TD’s refusing to engage with the public on the issue. They don’t want us to vote on this issue. They want the 8^th amendment to stay so they can sleep soundly at night knowing that they’ve sent another 12 women over to England to have a medical procedure that they should have access to in their own country.

So what am I asking you to do tonight? I’m asking you to have the difficult conversations. I’m asking you to discuss and debate repealing the 8^th amendment with people who you know are against it. I am not asking you to fall out with friends or family over it but we need to communicate to move forward. Abortion isn’t simple a pro-life vs. pro-choice debate, it’s human rights issue. It’s an issue that we need to keep talking about. We need to shout out it, louder and louder until we can’t be ignored any more. The only way to do that is to add more people to the cause. Don’t fall victim to ‘slacktivism’. Don’t just like an article in the Irish Times or the Independent about abortion. Share it, link it, post it anywhere you can. Print it out and stick it on the fridge in the office or at home. Make it an unavoidable issue that has to be talked about. Get out there and change minds. Don’t let this become an issue that’s ignored for another 20 years because you don’t want to have a difficult conversation. Be respectable, but try at least. 50% of the population are relying on your effort.

The word is already out there, we just need to make it louder.