Below is a video of an Irish women named Louise talking about her abortion interspersed with commentary about the state of reproductive freedom in Ireland. In short, there is none.
Contraception was only made legal in the mid 1980s and is still quite expensive. Abortion is outlawed in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The penalty for having an abortion and/or helping a woman obtain an abortion in Ireland is up to life imprisonment.
While Irish women can now get information about abortion while in Ireland, they must leave Ireland in order to obtain an abortion. Such travel has only been recently allowed and about 600o women make the trip every year.
These women spend, at the very least, 1000€ ($1400), which as you can guess, is cost prohibitive to many women in Ireland.
Make no mistake either. This is exactly the situation the so-called “pro-lifers” here in America wish to see happen here in our own country.
They want abortion outlawed. Many do not even support access to contraception. They want to, in short, create a nation of Louises.
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