Dublin South Central Repeal

The Dublin South Central Repeal group held a launch night on Wednesday the 21st of February, to discuss the upcoming referendum in May.

The aim was to educate the people of Dublin South Central in the hopes of securing a resounding yes vote. Guest speakers included Senator Lynn Ruane, Independent member of Seanad Éireann, Pauline Sargent of the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) and Dr. Peadar O’Grady of Doctors for Choice. The launch night took place in Café du Jour on Cork Street.

“It is only women with enough money to travel to England that are able to access abortion care. Women from poorer backgrounds and who aren’t able to travel, because they might be a migrant or a refugee, do not have that option,” Ruane told The Liberty. “The Eighth Amendment targets women without means and those who live at the margins of society and must be repealed.”

Ruane, from Killinarden, Tallaght, left school at the age of 15 as a single mother to look after her baby. She then went on to pursue a degree in Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology and Economics in Trinity College at the age of 27 through the Trinity Access Programme. This is an initiative which grants access to the university for people from disadvantaged areas and minority groups.

Elected to the Seanad at the age of 31 to represent Trinity graduates, Ruane has been a passionate voice for education and a challenger of inequality of all kinds. “Every woman in Ireland, no matter how much money they have or where they live, needs to be able to decide when and if she wants to become a mother.”

Sargent told The Liberty that the NWCI believes bodily integrity is a human right and that making a choice about your own body is at the core of personal freedom. “Women’s access to reproductive healthcare is fundamental to women’s family and life decisions and essential for women’s equality,” she said.

“Currently, the Eighth Amendment is a barrier to ensuring that all of women’s healthcare needs are provided for in this country. NWCI will campaign for the removal of the Eighth Amendment from our Constitution in the upcoming May referendum,” Sargent added.

“Every pregnancy is different, every decision is personal. The complexity of healthcare decisions has no place in the Constitution.”

One of the most important messages Dublin South Central for Repeal are trying to convey is that pro-choice, pro-life or completely undecided, it is crucial to get involved in the conversation and to listen to arguments on both sides.