Seanad debates

Tuesday, 15 December 2020

Access to Contraception: Motion

 

10:30 am

Photo of Róisín GarveyRóisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I second the motion. It is 2020. It is no longer good enough to have periods, tampons and active sex lives as taboo subjects in this country. We must accept that and move with the times. Our young people are begging us for that. We have only recently started to talk about the concept of consent. That concept of consent is so lacking which is why there are all these unwanted pregnancies. It is why today it is important that we discuss at this time the need for choices for women around contraception. I thank all the people who worked very hard to repeal the eighth amendment, especially in the non-governmental organisation sector, the women who fought for it and the men who got involved to get it past the line. Part of the agreement from the committee and research was that we also had to consider contraceptive care and access to it. The Irish Family Planning Association has said that a major issue in that respect is location. Coming from rural Ireland, I know from talking to many young people and from my own experience when I was younger that sometimes one cannot access contraception of any kind.As my colleague has pointed out, not everything in life is predictable. People can be abused, raped or subjected to unwanted sex. Contraception should be accessible for all women. There should be no financial barrier. It should not be a socioeconomic issue whereby those who can afford to do so can go to a private GP and pay for contraception. It should be accessible to all and that is why it has to be free.

I note 51% of the population is female. If we were coming from a matriarchy, this issue would not even be on the table today. However, because we are unfortunately in a patriarchy, we have to look for this. It is great that 40% of the House is female and it was the first thing I noticed on my first day in the Seanad. We need to step up to the mark and show that we respect women and their choices, and provide them with choices.

On freshers' day in colleges, a few free condoms might be thrown out but there begins and ends many people's education on anything to do with sexual activity. I again reiterate the importance of education on consent. A lot of the time, we are struggling to know what is right and wrong and lack the words to allow us to be in control of what is happening to us or what we are doing to other people. Consent, contraception and the right to abortion are all part of the journey people go through in life.

Those living in rural areas where there is no chemist cannot access the morning-after pill. Many pubs do not have condom vending machines. There are none in female toilets, so they have no choice, and men are lucky if the ones in their toilets are working. If they do, it could cost €10 for a pack of three. It is ridiculous; it is like something from the 1970s or 1980s. That is where we are at. It is not good enough any more.

We have to trust our young people. They have much more cop-on than we did. We have to give them these choices and show them that we have moved with the times. We cannot be stuck in the dark ages, telling people to say three Hail Marys and wait until they are married. That is a joke and an insult to every young person. If we said that, they would think we were mad. We have to keep up with the times.

We cannot always jump through hoops immediately in government. The eighth amendment was repealed a couple of years ago and we have to match it with what was promised, namely, that we would provide free contraception. This debate is about women aged 17 to 25 years but in the long term, all women need access to contraception. Then they can make choices and will have access to those choices.

This is a rural issue. Let us not pretend that Saturday night is not the most common time when unplanned sex happens. The next day all of the chemists in rural areas are closed and people cannot drive because they are over the limit. GP practices are all closed. If people happen to find a chemist that is open and it is their local one, everyone will know who they are. People will not avail of that service. That is a significant part of the cause of unwanted pregnancies. Let us face up to that fact, trust our young women and give them these choices for free in order that we are not discriminating against people who cannot afford contraception.

It is time we moved into 2020. I thank the Minister of State for his attendance today and look forward to his support of the motion.

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