Over 30 years of anarchist writing from Ireland listed under hundreds of topics
X-case
Articles tracking the failure of successive governments to legislate for abortion provision in Ireland as required by the X-Case
Anti choice extremists defeated but this legislation is worthless - where next?
Date: Thu, 2013-07-11 14:51
Despite spending in the region of a million euro and getting the backing of the catholic church its now clear that the anti-choice extremists of Youth Defence & the Pro Life Campaign were resoundingly defeated when the Dail finally voted though legislation implementing the X-Case judgment of 21 years ago. This time last year they were confident that they already had enough Fine Gael TD's on board to block the required legislation but they reckoned against the wave of public anger that followed the death of Savita Halappanavar after she was denied a potentially life saving abortion in a Galway hospital.
Dail vote today - Abortion choices - Plane ticket or prison
Date: Thu, 2013-06-27 10:45
12th June saw the publication of the The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013 on which the Dail votes this evening. In this piece of legislation, it states,
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"It shall be an offence to intentionally destroy unborn human life"
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"A person who is guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on indictment to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years, or both."
20 years of inaction on abortion access - now a tragedy
Date: Wed, 2012-11-14 16:33
There are some stories that are hard to cover - the death of Savita Halappanavar, a pregnant women, from septicemia whose life might have been saved if an abortion was not delayed is a hard as they come. According to the Irish Times Praveen Halappanavar, the husband of Savita said she had asked for a termination several times over a three day period only to be told "this is a catholic country."
For years we were aware that the failure of successive governments to legislate could result in a tragedy but when the first reports started to circulate that this had happened we were horrified. How did we come to this point?
100's of women have medical abortions in republic but what of those who can't?
Date: Mon, 2012-11-12 15:53
Anti-choice bigots are going into a frenzy to try and prevent the Irish government legislating for abortion provision in the republic as required by the X and C judgements. But they are ignoring the reality that 1000 plus women are already obtaining abortions in the republic every year and are simply making that decision for themselves. The bigots 'keep Ireland abortion free' crusade was fake even before the opening of Marie Stopes in Belfast, the false slogan is presumably designed to fool the US donors whose donations the bigots salaries and offices depend on. But it is having tragic consequences for women in Ireland as those unable to access abortion pills are left without access to abortion.
A history of the struggle for abortion rights in Ireland
Date: Sat, 2009-04-25 12:39
A detailed history with photos of pro-choice struggles in Ireland from the 1980's to 2007 and the involvement of Irish anarchist in those struggles. Includes the 1983 referendum (and those in 1986, 1992 & 1995) as well as the X-Case, the D-case and the Women on Waves ship. Written by a participant in almost all (if not all) of the events described.
IMAGE: DAIC picket at Dail with the then illegal abortion information number
It was the X-case which politicised me - and I'll march again on the 30th
Date: Fri, 2017-09-15 15:54
Choice is a political issue. I emigrated to the UK in the 80’s and when I returned to Dublin it was the X-case which politicised me. It was incomprehensible to me as a 23 year old that this young 14 year old girl who had been raped was not allowed to leave the country.
I was not the only one who felt strongly about this, and there were massive marches asking for the young woman to be let go to the UK to have an abortion. That was 1992 [in the picture I am there holding the placard on the left]. I felt like I had to leave this place to come back and see it with new eyes, and see how dysfunctional it truly was, and remains.
Migrant X refused an abortion and forced to have a C-section - a story of abuse at the hands of a racist, sexist authoritarian state
Date: Thu, 2014-08-21 15:26
This is as complete a story about what happened to 'Migrant X' that we are aware of. Migrant X is a young migrant women who it emerged was refused an abortion by the Irish state despite apparently meeting the grounds of the X-case legislation and instead forced to carry the pregnancy and agree to a C-section. The pregnanacy itself was the result of rape, Migrant X attempted suicide after being refused the abortion and later went on a hunger and thirst strike. Once what had happened to her became known there were sizeable pro-choice solidarity demonstrations called across Ireland and at Irish embassies overseas.
We have been given information that the migrant woman at the centre of the current forced pregnancy was 'committed' to a psychiatric hospital following her initial request for termination. It’s already known that the initial request was made when she was 8 weeks pregnant. It was this crucial period in which she was being held incommunicado which led directly to the Caesarian option being possible to impose as an ‘alternative’ to allowing her to access the abortion she had asked for.
The Garth Brooks panic in Dublin - same politicians ignored X-case for 20 years
Date: Fri, 2014-07-11 13:49
Extraordinary stuff. The Party that failed to act for 20 years on the X-case legislation wanted emergency legislation rushed through the Dail in 24 hours to facilitate a Garth Brooks concert. The concerts now appear to be all cancelled following an announcement from the promoters but the entire episode shows how politicians found great urgency to act when it came to a populist money making cause that they could not locate anywhere when women's lives were under threat.
X-case legislation looking like a step backwards for women's rights
Date: Wed, 2013-05-01 16:45
The WSM has always argued that the X-Case legislation was not enough but even so we were shocked to finally see the details of the bill Fine Gael and Labour are preparing. We expected it to be a small but almost insignificant step foward. Instead there is a clear danger that women with unwanted pregnancies will be worse off than before if the final bill resembles what has been presented so far.
A Question of Choice: The X case is not enough
Date: Wed, 2013-04-17 12:06
I remember when I was 13 trying to work out my view on abortion. Abortion was in the news, a pro-life referendum had just been passed. Most of my friends’ mothers had campaigned on the ‘pro-life’ side. Abortion was in the classrooms. I remember a teacher, walking between our desks, saying ‘abortion, abortion’, rolling the rrrs, making the word stretch. “Aborrrrrrtion - even the word is ugly”. I remember sitting there, too afraid to question.
