For the first time in their history, the Irish are called upon to vote this Friday in a referendum on the liberalization of abortion. A few hours before the result, the debate continues to rage in this still very Catholic country.
A historic day. For the first time, the Irish are called upon to vote in a referendum on abortion this Friday, May 25. If they vote “yes” for its liberalization, they will then repeal a key law in their constitution: the 8the amendment, which bans abortion since 1893 in this practicing Catholic country. The law had already been relaxed in 2013, now allowing a woman to have an abortion but only if her health is threatened. Incest, rape or possible malformations of the fetus are therefore still not recognized there as legal grounds for terminating the pregnancy. A few hours before the results, the debate continues to rage in the country but also abroad, Ireland crystallizing today all the dissensions around this thorny subject.
On social networks, we can see the mobilization of Irish expatriates who are preparing to return to their country of origin, mainly to vote in favor of the legalization of abortion, and let it be known with the hashtag “home to vote” (“At home to vote”). An Irish woman even went so far as to interrupt her honeymoon to return to vote. “I am ready for the Ireland that I deserve, that you deserve, that all those who had to go through the same thing as me in solitude deserve,” she wrote on Twitter.
Too brief of a honeymoon, but I’m #HomeToVote and hopefully #hometorepeal
Ready for the Ireland I deserve, you deserve, everyone who has ever faced the same journey as me alone deserves. We are not criminals, we need this, we WILL repeal this. pic.twitter.com/yRViMlZVTV
– Kate (@Bed_Forever_) 23 May 2018
Irish celebrities rally for the “Yes”
Many Irish celebrities have also taken a stand in favor of liberalizing abortion in a black and white video that was widely relayed on the Internet. “Today in Ireland”, begins Liam Cunningham known for his role as Davos Seaworth in Game Of Thrones as a preamble to the short film. “In Ireland today”, continue other personalities before explaining the situation one by one. “If the woman sitting next to you is pregnant,” says director Peter McDonald, “she has no rights over her own body,” concludes atrocious Owen McDonnell. “Why can anyone other than me choose what I do with my own body?” Asks comedian Cillian Murphy (Peaky blinders), before another star recalls that abortion is now punishable in Ireland by 14 years in prison. And Saoirse Renan (Lady Bird) to conclude: “Please vote ‘yes'”.
A “yes” not yet assured. Because, if a few days before the elections, he seemed on track to win according to the majority of polls, many Irish people continue to mobilize to prevent it. In the country around 3,000 people actively campaign for the “no”. Since the announcement of the referendum two years ago, these “pro-life” have led little in the way of seasoned communication to discredit the “pro-choice”, constantly recalling that it is to the United Kingdom, a former colonizer, that the Irish women are going. abort. Anti-abortion group Love Both (“Love both” – mother and unborn child) is going door-to-door to disseminate its “propaganda”, while other activists are content to stick fetus and ultrasound posters all over the streets.
This mobilization of the laity is obviously supported by the Catholic Church which, aware of its unpopularity in Ireland since the revelations on the scandals of sexual abuse committed by priests, is relatively discreet. “It is wrong to proclaim that wide access to abortion will make Ireland a modern country by placing women at the center, however denounced Bishop Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, in his New Years message. Ireland has a unique opportunity to give a strong testimony that we care for the weak and the small, the strong and the healthy, the young and the old… ”.
Because if the bishops today refuse to take the front line, it is to the Catholic Church that Ireland owes this law prohibiting abortion, even in cases of rape or incest. In 1983, her influence being such that she succeeded in getting the amendment to vote at 66.9%, stating that “the State recognizes the right of the unborn child and, with the same regard, the right to life. from the mother”.
In Italy, 70% of doctors oppose a conscience clause
But if Ireland is attracting all eyes today, it is because it is not the only one banning abortion. In Latin America, only three countries (Cuba, Guyana and Uruguay) allow it unconditionally. In Europe, it is still illegal in Malta and Poland. “Ireland is an important symbol insofar as there is today a lock on this issue of abortion”, explained Thursday 24 Véronique Séhier, co-president of Family Planning, at the microphone of BFMTV while she was demonstrating with other pro-abortion activists in front of the Irish embassy in Paris to defend the “yes”.
And the latter reminds that if abortion is now authorized in most European countries, it is subject to many restrictions. “In Hungary today, this is not prohibited, but the country included in its constitution in 2011 the right to life from conception,” she explains. “Italy has a law which is more or less like that of France. But 70% of doctors oppose a conscience clause, which also exists in France. This means that women in Italy, even having a law which Normally guarantees them access to abortion, are prevented from having an abortion because an anti-abortion movement close to the Vatican encourages doctors to oppose the conscience clause, “she also denounces.
An uncertain outcome
In France, Simone Veil’s law of January 17, 1975 decriminalized abortion. Today, the Public Health Code allows any pregnant woman, adult or minor, to ask a doctor for an abortion, until the end of the 12th week of pregnancy. But even in France, this right is not unanimous and the debate still exists. In 2014, when the Assembly had deleted the term “distress” from the Veil law, Marion Maréchal-Le Pen had denounced “abortions of comfort” and Jean-Christophe Fromantin, who was then UDI deputy mayor of Neuilly-sur- Seine, had warned against a “risk of eugenics”.
The result of the Irish referendum is expected to be announced on Saturday evening, 25 after the vote count. If the “Yes” wins, the amendment to the Constitution will be replaced by the following text: “The law may make provisions for the regulation of terminations of pregnancies”. The exact terms of a bill legalizing abortion therefore remain very vague and the game is still far from being won …
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