Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

Access to safe abortion facilities is a democratic and civil right for women. When a woman becomes pregnant, it must be her choice, in consultation with her GP, as to what happens next. It should not be a choice that is made by politicians, priests, policemen or anyone else. Abortion is a democratic and civil right that was won in Britain 50 years ago, the United States 45 years ago and France 43 years ago. Eighteen days ago, the bells chimed at midnight and everyone turned to one another and wished them a happy new year. It is 2018, and women in Ireland are still waiting for abortion rights and their democratic rights. Women in Ireland must sometimes wonder what year, or century, this is meant to be.

Abortion rights are an excellent litmus test of a society's character. Invariably, the more reactionary the regime, the more restrictive the abortion rights under it and vice versa. History tells us that abortion was outlawed in the Chile of General Pinochet but legalised in the Spanish Republic that did battle with Franco. Abortion in apartheid South Africa was allowed only on the grounds of a threat to the life of the mother. Does that sound familiar? However, abortion in post-apartheid South Africa is available on request in a variety of circumstances.

It is commonplace for centre-right politicians and some lazy journalists to refer to the existence of two extremes on either side of this debate. This is nothing new. In their day, the suffragettes were labelled "extreme", as were the women who campaigned for the legalisation of contraception and the right to divorce. A woman who asserts her right to control her own body is not an extremist. She is merely a sane and sensible member of the human race. The only extreme position in this debate is the one held by those who argue that women should continue to be forced to go abroad, who say that women who take abortion pills must be denied medical help and supervision, and who refuse to close the door on the principle that women, in certain circumstances at least, should be forced to bear children against their will.

The Minister for Health gave some interesting information last night which showed abortion to be a reality that exists in every county in this Republic. It is also the case that a majority of people in every corner of this country supports change to the abortion laws. Last year's Amnesty International-Red C poll found that a majority of people supported abortion on request up to 12 weeks in Dublin, Leinster, Munster and in Connacht-Ulster. In Connacht-Ulster, 53% of people polled supported such a change. Interestingly, the poll showed a high level of support for that change among men. I am a 54 year old man and I have listened carefully to what is being said by friends and men of my own age with whom I am in touch and there has been quite a change in recent times. I detect that a lot of men are taking the attitude that it is a woman's right to choose, that they do not have the right to say otherwise and they are supporting change on that basis.

Interestingly, Red C and Amnesty International also found that 57% supported the right to abortion on socioeconomic grounds, a proposition which, unfortunately, was too radical for the Oireachtas committee. All along the line the people are more radical than the politicians, particularly the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael politicians, on this issue. After 35 years of the eighth amendment, with no woman of childbearing age today having had the right to have her say on the issue, the country is in the mood for change. Meanwhile, however, the Taoiseach prevaricates and an entire tranche of Deputies wrestle with their consciences and go into something resembling a state of hiding. Moreover, we are told there may not be a Dáil majority in favour of abortion on request up to 12 weeks. In these circumstances the movement for change and all of its supporters must remember how change was won in other countries. In the US, legalisation of abortion came in 1973 under a conservative, anti-abortion President, namely, Richard M. Nixon. Nixon was compelled to introduce change in the wake of an historic court ruling, which itself came in the wake of more than a decade of social revolt and grassroots activism. The 1960s produced the black civil rights, anti-Vietnam war and second-wave feminist movements. The feminist movement organised events like the 1970 women's strike for equality, which brought 50,000 men and women onto the streets of America's cities to demand equal pay, free child care and abortion on request. The Chicago women's liberation movement launched the Jane campaign. In a society where 10,000 women died every year from back-street abortions, the Jane campaign trained women to provide 11,000 safe abortions themselves in defiance of the law. I must pause for a moment to salute the activists of ROSA and Women on Web who have followed that example of civil disobedience with their abortion pills campaign in recent years that has done so much to put change onto the agenda here. It was actions such as the Jane campaign and their impact on public opinion which won abortion rights for women in the US despite a conservative political establishment.

Here, it is a mass movement and its impact on public opinion which has put the repeal of the anti-abortion laws and the legalisation of abortion rights onto the agenda despite the conservative nature of this Dáil. That movement will learn the lessons from the US and other countries and rather than step back at this juncture, it will step up and increase the pressure for change. That is the key message on which I want to end. To everyone who wants change on this issue, to every woman and young person, we say that now is the time to get organised. If they are in school or college, they should talk to their school friends and class mates and get them organised. If they are in a workplace, they should get organised. They must talk to their families, friends, neighbours and their communities and get organised and make demands of the Government, the Dáil and the politicians. Those demands are that we have a referendum to repeal the eighth amendment and that nothing is inserted in the Constitution that restricts the provision of full abortion rights. We will fight and organise to win that referendum. While 50% plus one is all we need to win it, let us have a resounding majority and give the Government and politicians no excuse not to introduce abortion rights when it comes to legislate in the autumn. The second demand is that the date for a May referendum is announced before St. Valentine's Day, with a referendum commission in place. The third demand is for a copper-fastened guarantee that if the ban is repealed then at a minimum, legislation to allow abortion on request up to 12 weeks will be enacted. Last but not least, we demand that the repressive Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013, which criminalises women who have abortions and threatens them with up to 14 years in prison, is scrapped. There can be no more delays. It is time for change and time to get organised.

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