Workers Solidarity Movement

The 'Miss D' case put in context with the struggle in Ireland for women to have full control over their own bodies and the position taken by the WSM on this issue. A few weeks ago, a 17 year old girl, 4 months pregnant, known as 'Miss D' was brought before the courts to determine whether or not she should be allowed to travel to England for an abortion. The baby she was carrying had been diagnosed with anencephaly, a condition that leads to still-births. The longest an infant has survived outside the womb with this condition is a few days. Yet the Irish government were unwilling to let Miss D have an abortion, denying Miss D's basic human rights under the guise of 'letting the baby die with dignity'.

The D-case is that of a 17 year old woman who has been prevented travelling to England for an abortion. If she is forced to go through with the pregnancy the baby will die soon after birth as the foetus has anencephaly which means parts of the skull and the brain are missing. What follows are reports on solidarity demonstrations on Saturday 5th and Monday 7th May.

This morning, 30 people took part in a solidarity action supporting "Miss D" in her case to be allowed travel abroad for an abortion. The court case continues tomorrow. Rally on Saturday.

There will be no change in the law on abortion. A Government spokesman said it had "no plans on the general issue of abortion" despite Bertie Ahern's promise before the last general election that the matter would be addressed.

Official Ireland pretends that abortion doesn't exist, the estimated 100,000 women who have travelled abroad to terminate pregnancies since the 1983 amendment to the Constitution know different. Workers Solidarity spoke to Niav Keating from the new pro-choice youth group.

The 20th anniversary of the anti-choice referendum of 1983 saw the launch of a new pro-choice campaign, 'The Alliance for Choice' launched in Dublin. Since 1983 over 100,000 Irish women have had to travel to England for abortions.

We are often told that ignorance of the law is no excuse, but what are we to do when nobody will say what the law means. The High Court in Belfast has said NO to a request that it spell out what is legal and what is not. The Family Planning Association had asked it to order the Department of Health to publish guidelines about when abortion is legal in the six counties.

When the 'Northern Ireland Assembly' discussed the issue of abortion in June, the prospect of denying rights to women united politicians right across the so-called 'religious divide'. The Democratic Unionist Party proposed a motion to prevent the extension of the 1967 Abortion Act to the 6 Counties. The SDLP (Social Democratic and Labour Party!!) imposed a party whip in favour of the motion.

OVER THE SUMMER there were developments in the long struggle over women's rights to control their own bodies. Most of them have not been good. In the North a group known as Precious Life succeeded, following a campaign of intimidation, in closing down the Ulster Pregnancy Advisory Association. The association had been in existence for 20 years. They took the decision to close their doors following picketing of the homes of their councillors, who were all volunteers. Their head office was broken into and a fire was started.

THE 'PRO-LIFE' MOVEMENT argues that abortion is never medically necessary to save the life of a mother. They justify this by inventing a distinction between direct abortion, where the intention is to terminate pregnancy and 'indirect' abortion where the intention is to avoid some life threatening condition. In both cases the medical procedure followed is the same, in both cases the pregnancy is terminated. It is crucial to the 'pro-life' movement that they convince the public that abortion is never medically necessary. Therefore they continue to create this totally semantic distinction between 'direct' and 'indirect' abortion. Some doctors fear that under these terms, medical decisions could be brought through the courts. They would have to consider the threat of disbarment if their 'intention' is interpreted incorrectly. It would be difficult to practice as a doctor under such conditions.