Category Archives: Activism and Agitation

If I can’t have My Reproductive Rights, then it’s not My Revolution.

Dawn Purvis speaks about the new Maire Stopes clinic in Belfast.

http://www.newstalk.ie/2012/news/first-abortion-clinic-to-open-on-island-of-ireland/

The first ever clinic to offer abortions on the island of Ireland will open in one weeks’ time.

Marie Stopes International is setting up a centre on Great Victoria Street in Belfast.

The not-for-profit organisation operates in 42 countries around the world.

It is one of the leading providers of sexual and reproductive healthcare services in Britian.

The new Belfast clinic will be open to women over the age of 16 including those who travel from the Republic.

Women who attend there will have a consultation and a scan before 2 doctors assess whether they are eligible for an abortion up to 9 weeks into their pregnancy.

The cost of the non-surgical procedure is expected to be around stg£350 (€435).

The director of the new clinic in the city is Dawn Purvis.

She spoke with Breakfast here on Newstalk.

There is a Maire Stopes clinic in Dublin, the will not currently be able to offer the service of medical abortions but they should have information about the services in the Belfast clinic.

http://www.reproductivechoices.ie/

Marie Stopes Reproductive Choices
10/11 Berkeley Street
Dublin 7

Phone: (01) 830 0630
Fax: (01) 830 0629
Email us:

info@reproductivechoices.ie

Marie Stopes Northern Ireland to provide medical abortion.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1010/breaking57.html

The first sexual and reproductive health centre to offer abortion services on the island of Ireland will open in Belfast next Thursday.

Marie Stopes Northern Ireland, based in purpose-built city centre premises on Great Victoria Street, will offer contraceptive options, HIV testing, STI testing and treatment, ultrasound scanning, and medical abortion up to nine weeks gestation.

Anyone over the age of 16 can access the centre, including people from the Republic, and services are available by appointment only. Marie Stopes International, which is a not-for-profit organisation, is the UK’s leading provider of sexual and reproductive healthcare services. It has been established for over 30 years, and works in 42 countries around the world.

It will be medical abortions only which means for some women living up there they won’t have to travel to the mainland UK. It’s a start, hopefully we will have similar services here too.

X is for Anonymous

X is for Anonymous- a half hour documentary about the Irish abortion debate- was created by three Dublin students — Heather Browning, Kerry Guinan and Rosi Leonard. Born during the era of the X Case, these student filmmakers interrogate why the government have failed in their duty to another generation, and whether the next generation can hope for this much anticipated legislation.

The documentary also hopes to describe in some way a particular sense of national identity rooted in religion, and how that identity is often perpetuated at the cost of women’s rights. Key contributors include Senator Ivana Bacik, Professor Fiona de Londras, Frank Crummey, Clare Daly TD, Fiona Hyde, Nadine O’Regan, Katie Gillum as well as a number of pro-choice activists.

150,000 Irish women have traveled to the Uk for abortions.

Today is international decriminalise abortion day.
Over the last 32 years 150,000 women have traveled to the Uk for abortions for a range of reasons.
For the last 20 of those years, successive governments have ignore the High Court ruling from the X case, forcing women who had according to the High Court a legal right to have their abortion here.

I’ve written about this before, indeed it’s been about 7 years from my post here about
how we all know someone who has had an abortion. At the current rate of 12 women a day
that mean aprox 30,660 women in the intervening time has had to travel to the UK for an abortion.

It’s someone you know in your life and as the British Pregnancy Adversary Service says,
would you want to see her in jail?

bpas

New emergency contraceptive, 120 hour window.

There is a new emergency contraceptive which has been approved for use.
It is called Ella one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulipristal_acetate
http://ec.princeton.edu/pills/ella.html

It can be taken up to 120 hours after intercourse rather then the 72 hour window for what is known as the morning after pill.

The morning after pill is most effective 93% if taken with in 12 hours, and how effective it is decrease until it’s about 50% if taken at it’s 72 hour limit.

Ella one can be taken up until 120 hours later and will stop 60% of unwanted pregnancies.

I know it’s not as good as contraception or the morning after pill if taken with in 12 hours but, if you can’t get to a chemist for what ever reason with in the 72 hour window it’s an option.

Ella one is not available over the counter you will have to see a dr to get it prescribed. But hurrah for more options but please remember if there is a chance you could end up pregnant there is a chance you’ve gotten an STI, do don’t forget to get tested.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/archives/2012/0717/ireland/number-of-women-attending-sexual-health-clinics-falls-201045.html

The average age of a woman having a first child in Ireland is now 31 and Dr McQuade said many young women in their 20s — the age group which has seen the largest fall in numbers attending the clinics — had no intention of having a baby until they were in their 30s.

The availability of over- the-counter contraception in pharmacies has also contributed to the fall in numbers attending the clinics, but Ms Begas said: “It may still be better for these women to discuss their family planning needs with a family doctor or GP.”

She said a new emergency contraceptive called ellaOne — which can be taken within five days of unprotected sexual intercourse and which more than halves the chances of pregnancy — is now available from GPs.

A recent study found that 12% of young women were now opting for longer-term forms of contraception.

Feminist Porn

It’s real, it’s not an oxymoron and it’s not a man saying “I respect you” while cleaning the bathroom with out being asked.

There is so much of this stuff around that there are Annual Feminist Porn Awards. This has been running for the last 7 years, with a range of categories
from Sexiest Straight Film, Hottest Trans Scene/Film, to Most Deliciously Diverse Cast.

What is considered feminist porn?

http://goodforher.com/feminist_porn_awards

What makes a movie a Feminist Porn Award winner?

In order to be considered for a Feminist Porn Award, the movie/short/website/whatever! must meet at least one of the following criteria:

1) A woman had a hand in the production, writing, direction, etc. of the work.

2) It depicts genuine female pleasure

3) It expands the boundaries of sexual representation on film and challenges stereotypes that are often found in mainstream porn.

And of course, it has to be hot!

Overall, Feminist Porn Award winners tend to show movies that consider a female viewer from start to finish. This means that you are more likely to see active desire and consent, real orgasms, and women taking control of their own fantasies (even when that fantasy is to hand over that control).

The nominations are for films and for websites, the list of nominees is pretty long and makes for interesting browsing/research.


http://goodforher.com/fpa_2012_nominees

Expert group on abortion rights set up.

Minister sets up expert group on abortion rights
In this section »

DEAGLÁN de BRÉADÚN, Political Correspondent

MEMBERS OF the medical, legal and nursing professions are to sit on a 14-member expert group being set up to address the outcome of last year’s European Court of Human Rights ruling on abortion rights in Ireland.

Minister for Health James Reilly received approval at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting to establish the group. It will be in place by the end of the year or shortly thereafter and will have six months to deliver a report to Government.

The European Court ruled last December that the State had failed to implement existing rights to lawful abortion where a mother’s life is at risk. The court found the State violated the rights of a woman with cancer who said she was forced to travel abroad to obtain an abortion.

The programme for government pledged to “establish an expert group to address this issue, drawing on appropriate medical and legal expertise with a view to making recommendations to Government”. As required under the procedures of the court, the Government submitted an action plan last June, outlining its intention to set up the expert group.

Also at yesterday’s meeting, Taoiseach Enda Kenny received approval for the establishment of an interdepartmental committee on European engagements as a subcommittee of the Cabinet.

Minister of State for European Affairs Lucinda Creighton is expected to play a prominent role on this committee, which will monitor and co-ordinate the Government’s involvement with EU institutions.

Finally.

Less then 5% of cases sent to the DPP result in a conviction.

I have known for the years the stats are bad and I have blogged about it before and that even if you do report it to the garda ( and according to the rape cirises network only 10% do go to the gards) that then there is a good chance that after your attacker being brought to the garda station for statements and the file being sent to the Department of Public prosecution they may choose not to take the case but I didn’t know it was as high as 70%.

http://examiner.ie/ireland/crime/dpp-rejects-70-of-sex-crime-referrals-172463.html

DPP rejects 70% of sex crime referrals

By Jennifer Hough

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

AT least 70% of suspects in sex offence cases are not being prosecuted by the Director of Public Prosecutions, figures obtained by the Irish Examiner have revealed.

Statistics provided by the DPP also reveal that, since 2008, there have been just 24 convictions in cases relating to people aged under 18. They were secured from 531 files submitted to the office by gardaí.

So far this year, a high of 179 cases concerning under 18-year-olds, in which there were 201 suspects, were sent to the DPP.

An analysis of the figures from 2008 to October 2011 shows:

* In 2010, 1,254 files with 1,407 suspects were sent to the DPP. No prosecution was directed in 1,002 (70%) of those;

* In 2009, 1,043 files with 1,204 suspects were sent. No prosecution was taken against 883 (73%) suspects;

* In 2008, 962 files with 1,055 suspects were sent. No prosecution was directed in 784 (74%) cases.

To October 2011, gardaí sent 1,083 files concerning 1,213 suspects to the DPP. There was no prosecution taken in relation to 736 suspects. A further 270 are pending.

The figures reveal that conviction rates for serious sex offences in the higher courts are not going up — despite a steady rise in the number of files submitted to the DPP in recent years.

Since 2008, there have been 233 convictions in the Central Criminal Court and Circuit Court. In 443 cases over the same timeframe, “no final outcome” was recorded. There can be several reasons for this, for example, if the gardaí cannot locate the accused, if a case is still pending or if a case is awaiting a re-trial where the jury could not reach a verdict during an earlier trial.

The Rape Crisis Network of Ireland called on the DPP to give victims reasons for not prosecuting a case.

“Very many survivors of sexual violence who take the decision to report the crime to the guards will not have their case prosecuted,” said a network spokesperson.

“For survivors, this can be very difficult to understand and accept.

“We would like to see the DPP extend a pilot project to start giving people reasons for non-prosecution in relation to unlawful killing to include sexual offences.”

The figures show that, in 2010, just 10 convictions were secured in the Central Criminal Court, where 67 people were initially prosecuted. Of the 145 offences tried in the Circuit Court concerning 154 suspects, there were 32 convictions.

Also last year, of 203 suspects in 173 alleged crimes against under 18-year-olds, the DPP did not prosecute 163 (80%) of the suspects.

There was one conviction in the Central Criminal Court, and five in the Circuit Court. One case is still pending direction.

According to the DPP’s office, it receives a file in all detected cases of a sexual nature. Gardaí do not filter “unprosecutable” cases.

For this reason, the office receives a large number of files, some of which are seriously lacking in evidence.

This means they will only bother with cases which they can get a jury to prosecute and given the horrible attitudes to wards sex and women in this country, as over 1/3 of people think the victim is at fault. It means that you have to be a ‘good girl’ and have very little of a sexual history for to have them think it’s not your ‘fault’.

Given that even if the DPP takes your case it can take up to 118 weeks, that’s over two years before it sees the inside of a court room and you have to live with that hanging over you and that’s even harder if the attacker is someone you know which statically is likely.

The system is beyond deeply flawed and needs to change.

from that film with that dyke

Artist: Joey Lauren Adams Lyrics
Song: ALIVE Lyrics

I’m feeling nothing
But all alone
Just missing someone
I don’t even know
But until I find them
I’ll wait patiently
Just feeling nothing
Inside of me

And where are you baby
Where can you be
Why aren’t you here
Loving me
‘Cause I won’t to kiss you
And make you feel right
I want to lay with you
all through the night

And I want to feel passion
I want to feel pain
I want to weep at the sound of your name
Come make me laugh
Come make me cry
Just make me feel
Alive

And so I wait
For that glorious day
When the one I dream of
Comes my way
But until I find them
I’ll wait patiently
Just feeling nothing
Inside of me

And where are you baby
Where can you be
Why aren’t you here
Loving me
‘Cause I want to kiss you
and make you feel right
I want to lay with you
All through the night

And I want to feel passion
I want to feel pain
I want to weep at the sound of your name
Come make me laugh
Come make me cry
Just make me feel
Alive

Someone you know has had an abortion.

IFPA Launches Campaign for Safe and Legal Abortion in Ireland
http://www.ifpa.ie/news/index.php?mr=111

Between January 1980 and December 2004, at least 117,673 women traveled from Ireland for abortion services in Britain. There are no statistics to account for the number of women who travel to other countries for abortion services

http://www.ifpa.ie/abortion/iabst.html

These are not faceless numbers.

This is your sister, your friend, your work college, your aunt, your mother, your girl friend, your ex girl friend, the person you see on the dart, luas, bus every morning,the girl in the newsagents, or checkouts or the girl that was giving you the eye the last time you were in that bar.

Every one of them made that very hard choice, made even harder by having to travel and in years gone by not being able to get information.

And then you have those that could not get the money together.
Who say they love their kid but wished their life could have been different but they did not have the money for flights ect.

Ideally every act of conception should be one that both people have planned but life doesn’t work that way, esp with the lack of education and of cheap contraception in this country.

So we ignore the big taboo.
Women don’t tell their stories.
They don’t share why they full of relief, guilt,sadness and happiness twice a year, usually the date of their termination and that date the child would have been born.

Being in the enviable position of having to think about an abortion is hard.
Having to make that choice is hard.

Having to make an appointment to get information or a referral is hard.
Keeping that appointment and talking out loud about your choice is hard.
Booking flights and traveling over, knowing that the mid morning flights
carry other women like you and the air stewards can spot them is hard.

Having to get into a taxi and give the name of the clinic and seeing the look of sympathy or shock, hard.
Facing the dr and the counselor in the clinic in the UK and having them ask
you if you are sure even after you have traveled all the way there is hard.
Traveling home, telling no one, having to go through the mental , emotional, hormonal and physical aftermath of a termination and most people not knowing what is up with you and you can’t tell them is hard.

Having this topic bandied about by people who have never been through it is hard.
Seeing pro lifer nuts on the streets of our city condemning so many women is hard.
Having it used as a political foot ball is hard.
Having it said that it is political foot ball is hard.
Having people make moral judgment about who would or could have a termination is hard.

And they say we DON’T punish women for having abortions in this country don’t make me laugh.

Being able to be there for a friend and travel with them and offer solace
and waiting for their call or text on those two days a year is hard also
but nothing compared to what they have been through.