Category Archives: Activism and Agitation

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

Activism and Agitation

“Me too” with thanks to Amanda Palmer

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I haven’t written in a while, life got busy and every time I looked back at the last year with all the things I accomplished,( most of which if you’d have told me this time last year I would do, I would have roared laughing at the absurdity) they seem too many to list.

I had wanted to write about the thing which has impacted me the most over the last 10 months, but I found it hard to put into words. Then I read the facebook post Amanda Palmer just put up.

https://www.facebook.com/amandapalmer/posts/10152737703398375

okay, sunday sermon time. having shared my own abortion experiences (in the press since ages ago, but more recently in more detail in “the art of asking”) i can relate to this one, and it’s true: sharing the story meant that others stood up next to me and held me. ironically, sharing stuff like this creates new family: my close friends became much closer.

and since the book came out, so many women have come up to me – especially on this past tour – sharing abortion stories into my ear that they’d never told anybody. it made me simultaneously so sad and so honored. but mostly sad.
why just tell me? i’d think.
why can’t she tell….anybody else?
is there really nobody for her, to listen, to share the pain?

 

I found myself saying me too, I have had that same experience and found myself asking those same questions.

So many women, usually complete strangers have come up to me quietly over the last 10 months to share with me that they too have had an abortion. I remember each and everyone of them. Some would accept a hug others, would just hold and squeeze my hand. They ranged from 17 to women in their 70s. Some would pull me aside and tell me their story, one the that have not told anyone or have not told to anyone in decades, some would just look at me and say “Me too”.

I am sitting here crying, not for me for all the women who carry their story untold, who don’t have the support they should have, who are isolated due to stigma from all the women which surround them who have also had an abortion.

This shit needs to end.

If we can’t talk about something, then we are prevented from processing it and healing. The stigma and secrecy which surrounds abortion harms women. I am glad I was able to play a small part in helping some know they are not alone, we are not alone. That for me was the most important thing I did last year.

Thank you to everyone who has been supportive of me over the last 10 months, friends, family, online acquaintances, all the pro choice people who have offered solidarity from all over the world.

And I am going to keep on doing it, each of those women who came up to me, made telling my story and repeatedly publicly saying I had an Abortion worth doing and I am not going to stop. Not going to stop; refusing to be silenced or taking the time to listen to those who approach me or  working with the Abortion Rights Campaign.

That’s my New Year’s Resolution.

 

Activism and Agitation

Facts about the Abortion Pills, Mifepristone and Misoprostol.

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So during the week Prime Time on RTE covered the abortion pills, they ordered them online from Womenonweb.org and went up north to collect them.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/1023/654484-prime-time/

New figures released to RTÉ Prime Time show the number of seizures of pills that can be used for abortions more than doubled during the first 10 months of this year.

The figures from the Health Products Regulatory Authority show there have been 60 seizures of over 1,000 tablets during 2014, up from 24 seizures last year.

The Master of the Rotunda Hospital in Ireland expressed concern about a website that is offering abortion pills online to Irish Women.

 

For a piece on our national broadcaster it was very scaremongering and did not furnish any facts about the pills. There is a big knowledge gap about them here in Ireland, they have been legal in France from 1988 and in the USA from 2000. They are prescribed only up to the first 9 weeks of a pregnancy.

So what are they?

The Abortion Pills are a set of pills, of two different types, Mifepristone and Misoprostol.

Mifepristone blocks the pregnancy hormones, they are only prescribed and dispensed in maternity hospitals and units around the country and are taken under direct supervision, a nurse will watch you take them.

Misoprostol are prescribed for a range of medical conditions and are known under several names Cytotec being one of the most common. Most Pharmacys stock them but they can not legally be prescribed to end a pregnancy. They cause the womb to contract and to eventually expell it’s contents. Misoprostol can be used on it’s own to end a pregnancy but the doses are greater and it’s not as efficient as using them with Mifepristone.

The way Misoprostol ends a pregnancy is an off book use or a side effect of the tablets as they were not created for that purpose and it was women in Brazil who discovered the side effect and started using them to end pregnancies back in the early 80s.

By 1988 the abortion pills were made legal in France. Any one wishing to end a pregnancy in the early stages is given the pills after seeing a nurse, midwife or Dr. The abortion pills became legal in Germany, Spain, Italy, Holland not long after and they became legal to use in the USA in 2000.

If Miss X back in 1992 had of lived in France she could have be given the pills.

If Miss Y had of been in the USA, France, Germany, Italy or Spain and discovered she was pregnant and did not want to be at 8 weeks she could have after counselling been administered the abortion pills.

The package of pills which Women on Web send to women are the same dose and make as those used by BPAS in the UK for abortion and Miscarriage management.

It has one Mifepristone  and 6 Misoprostol with directions on how and when to take them.

They are also used later in a pregnancy, when miscarriage is unavoidable to hasten the end of the pregnancy instead of forcing women to wait for untold hours until there is not fetal heartbeat or there is an immediate risk to the woman’s life. But due to the 8th amendment they can’t be administered for such purposes by drs here, this is untenable.

Suppression of information about the abortion pills is rife here due to people not wanting to fall foul of the 1995 abortion information law, but well I have broken that more times then I can possibly count on my blogs over the last 10 years.

Using the oral contraceptive pill correctly has a 1% rate of you becoming pregnant.

Using the abortion pills correctly has a 1% rate of you having complications.

Yes both the oral contraception pill and the abortion pills are not suitable for all women, but the overwhelming majority of women can use them.

There is an FAQ here if you have more questions: https://www.womenonweb.org/en/page/6904/medical-abortion

So what if you happen to be one of the 1% of women that has a complication?

Then you have to go to a hospital and women on web will say do not take the pills if you can not be with in 2 hours of an A&E. If you go to hospital after self administrating the abortion pills, there is no medical test which will show that you have taken them.

Your condition presents as complications during a miscarriage and is treated the exact same way, there is no different in treatment needed. No medical professional will be able to tell by examination or blood work that you have taken the pills.

If you disclose to any medical professional that you have taken them, the treatment will still be the same. Medical professionals are not required by law to inform the garda that you have admitted to a self administered abortion. If they do tell the garda the garda would have no evidence and your statement alone would not be enough to convict you.

If you need to have a scan to confirm that the pregnancy is ended then there are clinics like Femplus who have both crises pregnancy services and abortion after care check ups.

http://femplus.ie/services/crisis-pregnancy/

http://www.abortionaftercare.ie/urgent-medical-care also has a list of services but some are pro life so be careful.

My family is complete, I do not want any more children, if my contraception was to fail and I discovered I was pregnant I would use the abortion pills either via  Womenonweb.org or www.womenhelp.org and I would not hesitate to refer a loved one to them either.

http://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20070815/ru486-no-extra-risk-to-next-pregnancy

The bottom line: Women who used RU-486 had no increased risk of ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, preterm birth, or low-birth-weight babies when they eventually decided to have a baby.

“By now, probably more than 5 million women worldwide have had RU-486 abortions,” Zhang tells WebMD. “More than half of women seeking early abortion use this method. So this is a very significant finding about the safety of this treatment.”

Currently the Abortion Pills cost 90 euro plus the cost of a trip to to Belfast to collect them. This is significantly less then the 1,500 euro which is the average cos of having to travel to the UK for a surgical abortion.

People shouldn’t have to travel or risk the possibility of 14 years in jail, they should be able to see their dr and if it is suitable get the abortion pills to take here under medical supervision.

Still ordering from Women on web or Women Help and taking the pills with out supervision is still a hell of a lot more safe to do then trying to use a wire hanger or knitting needle to induce an abortion.

The abortion pills need to be Free and Legal and available here in Ireland for those who need them.

Activism and Agitation, Uncategorized, Worlds Beyond

Purple Monkey Dishwasher

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Ever play Chinese whispers? That game when you get a group of people and a sentence gets whispered from one person to another. This of course distorts the message, some times it is completely different, other times parts remains or it’s important context is lost.

Sometimes the internet is like the most complex game of Chinese whispers. Often primary sources can’t be found, esp in the fast moving world of internet blogs, forums and of course twitter.

The sheer amount of stuff which can get written by thousands of people on various platforms around the globe in one 24 hour period can be staggering. So it’s not surprising that it can be at times impossible to get a grasp on certain topics like Gamer Gate.

What I have found startling is that the same arguments which get put to me about why I should not say I am a feminist are being used to tell people why should not say they are supporters of gamergate. Should radical or extremist elements be let take over an idea or a movement?

I can understand why the reasonable and moderate people who id themselves as part of not wanting games to be censored and who think that there needs to be better ethics & standards in game reviews and games journalism won’t walk away from gamergate. There are actual issues which do need to be talked about.

Where ever a person stands on how they think the games industry & culture needs to evolve, the abuse and threats to people need to stop. I would dearly like to see those who have made such threats feel the full force of the law, but that mean justice depts have to start taking online abuse seriously.

Yep Z.Q. is being punished for being an outspoken woman, I know what is like, thankfully never as extreme as what she has had to endure. There were those who were out to get her before her ex trashed her in that blog and it was the excuse they felt they were waiting for, all of which is unacceptable. Funny the journalist whom she has been accused of trying to bribe isn’t being hounded, a reporter who let themselves be compromised would be the person I would be pissed off with.

How ever I do know there are some who won’t want games to be sanitised and I get that and know people have not acted in a reprehensible manner. I really worry that those who have behaved as vile scum will tarnish the term gamer for ever and cause a regression in how people think of games. It feeds in to the whole manchild myth about games and gamers, how it is to be ever taken seriously as an art form with this crap happening around it.

I honestly think it is the generation who grew up playing Halo on consoles who created a community out of foul mouth teens who have dominated gaming culture to a point. There were awesome online gaming communities before them but that for me was the tipping point of one which grew up with out much adult interaction and it’s spread across online gaming, unfortunately.

I don’t agree with at least 40% of the critique in FemFeq, esp as there seems to be an element of eroticphobia to A.S. feminism. I think that the series of videos should have been the kicking off point for a heap of much needed discussion about games as an art form and how they can reflect society and culture. Don’t agree with what someone says and their conclusions, then refute them, tear down the position and the argument.

If you can’t do that and your only recourse is to attack the person rather then the position or the argument, then you’ve lost, you are not going to be taken seriously or have any credibility. All that has been done by those going to extremes to shut up women like Z.Q. A.S. and D.W. is to poison the well and make Jack Thompson seem right to people who don’t game and don’t know the joy it brings.

Seriously my kids who have been brought up as gamers would rather people they are ‘filthy casuals’ then have their peers link them to the hatred and misogyny gamer gate has become associated with. They both have had run in with asshats online, they both try and model good gaming manners, not quiet to Starcraft levels but still the last few weeks has had them distancing themselves, which I understand, but it still saddens me.

I have tried to keep up with what has been going on but until no I have not written about it, I have instead when ever I felt the urge to get into discussions, I’ve gone and played games instead. Mostly Assassins Creed Liberation, which has a protagonist who is a woman a person of colour and  the game is nuanced, smart, full of tangential learning about class, gender and the world as it was in the time period of the game. And I get to kill people, what more could I want in my games.

Well bar some day Steam allowing games like Leisure Suit Larry and Lula The Sexy Empire on the Market place. Why is it I can kill people in so many ways, but not get people off in games? But that is a topic for another blog post.

 

 

Activism and Agitation

On Being Propositioned

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So I was on my way home from spending some time with a friend, you know the fun few hours of tea and chats and conversations that twist and meander, it was late in the evening by the time I went for the bus.

As I strolled along slowing to the bus stop, as I knew I had time to toddle along, a car pulled up along side, I stopped thinking it might be someone who was looking for directions, but instead I got propositioned. I was asked “was I working”, I gave a startled laughed, replied that I wasn’t and the driver pulled off hastily.

I was a lil taken back, after all I didn’t think black combats, a Jack Skellington hoodie would be what sex workers tend to wear, and I tweeted about my experience when I got to the bus stop and while I waited for the bus to arrive.

I had a fair few people shocked and concerned for me and my safety. I hadn’t been worried about my safety, I was on a busy enough street, there were open pubs and shops near by I could have fled too, if I felt I needed to. My whole reaction was one of amusement.

Some people seemed to think I should be upset and disgusted that I had been mistaken for a sex worker, personally I found it funny, esp considering what I was wearing. I hadn’t been in that part of the city for a few years and as I replied to tweets I tried to remember the last time I had been propositioned and yep it was the in the same area.

I have had more upsetting experiences in pubs, and walking down more ‘safe’ and ‘respectable’ areas of Dublin when the polite and restrained inquiries of when I have been propositioned by someone hoping I was a Sex Worker.

I don’t have an issue with someone who engages in Sex Work, their body, their choice. The only thing I would wish for them is that, they choose to do so of their own free will and are not compelled to do so.

I know that there are those who ID as Feminist who have have huge issues with Sex Work and I read this yesterday which prompted me to write this blog.

http://bornwhore.com/2012/12/07/hey-baby-how-much-stop-blaming-sex-workers-for-street-sexual-harassment/

I have to say I agree, the type of street harassment I have experienced, from verbal right up to sexual assault would never be something I would connect to Sex Work and I think it’s wrong to try connect the two.

 

 

 

 

 

Activism and Agitation

Corcaigh Abú; Cork City Council passed a motion to support a referendum to Repeal the 8th amendment

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Given the title of this blog, there maybe ancestors spinning in graves down in Kerry, but credit where it’s due.

Late last night during a 5 hour session, in which topics as varied as the lack of librarians to new cycle lanes were tackled after the summer recess, Cork City Council passed a motion to support a referendum to Repeal the 8th amendment to the Constitution.

 

 

The motion was narrowly passed, making Cork City Council the first brave set of counselors to make such a call. Over the last 12 months County Councils all over the country, have passed motions in support of a referendum on Marriage Equality, setting precedent for this type of motion.

The 8th Amendment Article 40.3.3 which is 31 years old restricts doctors from offering health care that women need and has seen over 160,000 women have to travel to the UK and increasingly women risking the 14 years possible jail sentence as laid down in the Protection of Life in Maternity law last year.

The 8th amendment is also responsible for the high court being able to make drastic care orders like those which were imposed on Miss Y. “This amendment is incapable of adaptation to human needs. It’s broken. It’s dead. It needs to come out.” stated Mairead Enright of Lawyers for Choice at a meeting to build a coalition to Repeal the 8th amendment last Saturday, it seem Cork City Council is in agreement with this.

We want to thank those brave, compassionate 12 Councillors who passed this motion and those who voted them into office in the last local election. It is going to take more brave and compassionate people taking action to make this referendum happen, you can take part by signing The Abortion Rights Campaign’s petition to repeal the 8th amendment, by taking the National Women’s Council of Ireland action to contact your TDs telling them you want the 8th amendment repealed and by joining us on the March for Choice on the 27th of September.

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Activism and Agitation

Protests happening Wednesday 20th August 2014

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Dublin – The Spire at 6pm

Belfast – City Hall at 6pm

Galway – Eyre Square at 6pm

Cork – Courthouse at 6pm

Limerick – Cellar Door at 8pm

Derry – Guildhall at 6pm

Auckland – Irish Consulate at 8am

London – Irish Embassy at 6pm

Berlin – Irish Embassy at 6.30pm

The same way after the news about Savita broke, after the news of the young woman who is being referred to as MigrantX broke, protests have sprung up nationwide, and globally as far way as New Zealand.

 

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