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- Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
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- From: nyt%nyxfer%igc.apc.org@MIZZOU1.missouri.edu (NY Transfer News)
- Subject: NEWS:Ireland's Abortion Referenda
- Message-ID: <1992Dec11.233545.28469@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
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- Organization: The NY Transfer News Service
- Resent-From: "Rich Winkel" <MATHRICH@MIZZOU1.missouri.edu>
- Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 23:35:45 GMT
- Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Lines: 46
-
- Via The NY Transfer News Service * All the News that Doesn't Fit
-
-
- The Irish abortion referenda
-
- By Rebeca Toledo
-
- In the national Irish elections in November, there were three
- abortion amendments put before the public. The people voted yes
- on two of them: the right of women to travel abroad for
- abortions, and for women to be allowed access to abortion clinic
- information.
-
- Considering the amount of right-wing propaganda, this proved to
- be a tremendous victory for the progressive, pro-choice forces.
- The anti-woman forces went so far as to distribute literature at
- the polls reminding everyone that the pope is against abortion.
-
- The referendum that lost read in part, "It shall be unlawful to
- terminate an unborn life unless it is necessary to save the life,
- as distinct from the health, of the mother..." Although it would
- have been a step forward to take into account the life of the
- mother, pro-woman forces felt the referendum was inadequate
- because it disregarded the health of the mother. They therefore
- opposed the referendum.
-
- Because of its defeat, this amendment left the legality of
- abortion in the hands of an Irish Supreme Court ruling of last
- March. In its decision, the Court overruled the government. It
- allowed a 14-year-old girl who had been raped to go to Britain
- for an abortion, after her doctors and lawyers said she had
- threatened to kill herself.
-
- This process still leaves the question of legal abortions wide
- open. And progressive groups have already begun to organize new
- challenges. The new women members of Parliament have also vowed
- to press the government to liberalize abortion.
-
- (Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted
- if source is cited. For more info contact Workers World, 46 W. 21
- St., New York, NY 10010; "workers" on PeaceNet; on Internet:
- "workers@mcimail.com".)
-
-
- NY Transfer News Service * All the News that Doesn't Fit
- Modem: 718-448-2358 * Internet: nytransfer@igc.apc.org
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