Abortion on Demand, Without Apology
My speech from the 11th Annual March for Choice in Dublin on Saturday, September 24th 2022
I was honoured to speak at the Abortion Rights Campaign 11th Annual March for Choice in Dublin yesterday. It was six years to the day since I attended my first March for Choice in 2016 as a relatively new pro-choice organiser with Kerry for Choice. This year's theme was Abortion on Demand, Without Apology, and this newsletter takes its name from the Without Apology part of that slogan, so sharing my speech here feels appropriate.
My name is Paula Dennan, and I am a co-convener of the Abortion Rights Campaign.
Before I start, I want to let you know that if you or someone you know needs an abortion, the HSE’s MyOptions service will help you find your nearest abortion provider. Freephone 1800 828 010.
Since our abortion legislation came into effect in January 2019, almost 20,000 people have been able to access abortion care here at home. We celebrate people having the abortions they needed when they needed them. But we need more and better abortion provision.
Almost 20,000 people accessed abortion care from GPs, reproductive health clinics, or maternity hospitals. Yet there are significant gaps in abortion provision locally and regionally. Half of our counties have less than 10 GPs providing abortion services. Full abortion services are not available in all of our maternity hospitals. Our research shows that people must travel further to have an abortion than they usually do for healthcare appointments.
Leaving the county to access healthcare might not sound like a huge deal, but if you are reliant on public transport, it is almost impossible to organise in a way that does not take up your entire day and nearly impossible altogether if you are disabled. And before the introduction of telemedicine during the pandemic, people seeking abortions had to make this journey twice in three days due to the medically unnecessary mandatory waiting period.
This rural/urban divide in abortion provision disproportionally affects disabled people, working-class people, migrants, people living in direct provision, people who are already parents, and people who have other caring responsibilities.
Hundreds of people continue to leave the country for their abortions every year because our legislation is too restrictive. Hundreds more imported abortion pills due to legislative barriers preventing them from accessing abortion services.
In May 2018, Ireland made international headlines for overturning our abortion ban. But repealing the 8th Amendment was only ever the beginning. Our legislation is currently under review, and I want Ireland to make international news again, this time for a full-throated defence of abortion rights.
Abortions must be available on request throughout pregnancy for everyone. Pregnant people must be able to have abortions as early as possible and as late as necessary.
Our call for more and better abortions is part of the global fight for bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom. We face different laws, but we are always in solidarity.
We are in solidarity with activists in the U.S. dealing with the devastating consequences of the overturning of Roe v. Wade while continuing to organise in a rapidly changing legal landscape. We stand with Andorra and Malta, where abortion is illegal in all cases. We send our love and solidarity to everyone attending Malta’s second Rally for Choice in Valletta tomorrow. We send our support to activists in Poland, where Justyna Wydrzyńska faces criminal charges for helping someone access abortion pills.
While reproductive freedoms are under attack globally, we know that people are more pro-choice than the officials in charge, be that politicians or judges. We saw it with Repeal, and when abortion is on the ballot, we have seen the dedicated work of activists result in positive change in San Marino, Kansas, and Gibraltar.
We are in solidarity with people worldwide fighting for safe, legal and local abortion services for everyone who needs them. We send our support to everyone working to ensure that people have the information and resources to access safe abortion care, especially when it is unlawful.
We all love someone who has had or will have an abortion, and we won’t accept anything less than abortions on demand for everyone who needs them.
We need abortions on demand, without apology and free from shame and stigma. NOW!
But What Can I Do?
In Northern Ireland, Rock for Choice NI is happening this Friday, September 30th, in aid of Alliance for Choice Derry — Rock for Choice ‘22 tickets.
Speaking of Alliance for Choice Derry, you can attend their online Abortion Stigma and Pills workshop happening this Thursday, September 29th from wherever you are in the world — Abortion Stigma and Pills Workshop.
In Europe, sign up for Abortion Support Network’s fundraising challenge to run, walk, cycle, or swim 50km in September — Go the distance for ASN.
Share information on how to access abortions.
In Ireland, if you or anyone you know needs an abortion, the HSE’s MyOptions service will help you find your nearest provider. Phone 1800 828 010.
The Abortion Rights Campaign has written a blog post about how the legislation works and on what grounds abortion is permissible after the 12-week on-request period has passed — Need an abortion?
In Northern Ireland, Alliance for Choice Belfast and Alliance for Choice Derry have shared information on accessing abortion services in the North.
Alliance for Choice Belfast — I Need An Abortion Now.
Alliance for Choice Derry — Abortion Help.
In Northern Ireland, Lucht Cabhrach Abortion Doulas provide support at home before, during or after your abortion.
Phone 07397 902774 or email abortion@luchtcabhrach.com — What are doulas?
Email allianceforchoicederry@gmail.com to contact Alliance for Choice Derry’s abortion doulas — Our Abortion Doulas.
In the US, ineeda.com provides up-to-date information on how to get an abortion.
Donate to abortion funds.
In Europe, donate to Abortion Support Network and Abortion Without Borders.
In the US, the National Network of Abortion Funds lists funds in every state — donating here means your donation supports 90+ organisations.
Know about abortion pills.
Everyone Loves a News Round-Up
“Although it is common for many people to think of miscarriage and abortion as entirely separate matters, doctors say that medically the distinction isn’t so clear. Many doctors consider an abortion as any termination of pregnancy, whether through spontaneous miscarriage or a voluntary action like taking pills to induce one. The line between voluntary and involuntary also shifts and blurs: a patient might start spontaneously bleeding during a wanted pregnancy, then require an intervention; a different patient might want to end their pregnancy only to be told to wait because early signs suggest it will be unsuccessful anyway (around a quarter of pregnancies end spontaneously).” - What’s the difference between miscarriage and abortion? For some women, it’s hard to tell [The Guardian]
“Arizona can officially enforce a near-total abortion ban that existed more than a decade before it would join the United States as its 48th member. On Friday, a state court judge in a Southern Arizona county lifted an injunction, allowing a 1901 abortion ban to go into effect while failing to clarify how this change will interact with dozens of anti-abortion laws already on the books.” - Arizona Judge Rules That Abortion Ban From 1901 Can Take Effect [Jezebel]
“Today, eleven states, including Arizona, have broad laws that have redefined the term “person” to include a fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus, paving the way for cases like the one Mario Villegas filed. Before the Dobbs decision, federal protections for abortion acted as a kind of guardrail against some of the most extreme interpretations of those laws. But “without Roe as a fundamental constitutional right,” NAPW’s Sussman says, “we are now starting to grapple with what exactly these laws mean in practice.” - She Wanted An Abortion. Now The Embryo Is Suing Her Doctors [Rolling Stone]
“Climate disasters and abortion restrictions exist alongside one another in news headlines, and now environmental and abortion rights activists are warning that both issues have the potential to exacerbate each other.” - Abortion restrictions worsen with climate change [Prism]
“We know that restrictions push abortions later. So now that the choices made by our courts and our government will be pushing many abortions later, it feels a little irresponsible to me to act like if we could just expand access to the pills, and if we could just like decriminalize them, then we solve the problem,” said Chalifoux-Gene.” - Medication Abortion Is Not Enough to Solve the Abortion Access Crisis [TruthOut]
“But a growing body of research has begun to challenge the conventional thinking. In situations where people use pills to end a pregnancy at home, studies have found far higher rates of success for misoprostol-only abortions than were found in clinical settings. One recent study in Nigeria and Argentina showed misoprostol-only abortion to be 99 percent effective.” - The Other Abortion Pill [The Atlantic]
“Medical abortion [using pills] may genuinely be the right choice for many, but a lot of women will end up choosing that when it’s not really a choice.
“It’s just that they don’t want to wait a long time to have a [surgical] abortion and they don’t want to travel a long way to have their treatment.” - Women are settling for abortion care options they may not want and face NHS delays due to ‘postcode lottery’ [iNews]
“Allow us to be clear: Medicine and science are not up for debate. Health care is not a matter of opinion, it is a matter of fact. And the fact is, abortion is not in the realm of theory or belief. Abortion belongs in health care, social services, and public health reporting.” - Abortion Providers Would Like You to Please Stop Interviewing Anti-Abortion Propagandists [Jezebel]
“All over the state, people talked about how abortion had impacted their lives or a loved one’s. They were honest with family and friends for the first time in many cases, combatting misinformation and fundraising while they did it. And soon those conversations spread,” said Emily Wales, the president of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which covers Kansas. - How they won: Kansas organizers unpack their big win for abortion rights [The Guardian]
“However, the advent of abortion pills and self-management – especially when supported by feminist collectives, hotlines, accompaniment networks or other constellations of actors – significantly challenges understandings of abortion safety, the actors involved, and its link with legality. Importantly, much of this challenge has come from feminist networks and collectives in the Global South, pushing us to reconsider these enduring images of “coat hangers” and “backstreet abortions”. Indeed, as many have argued, this is a moment for transnational solidarity and knowledge exchange– and there is much to learn from abortion and reproductive justice organising in the Global South.” - Abortion Safety: No Longer Coat Hangers And Backstreets, But Pills, Hotlines, And Collectives? [SRHM: Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters]