Tag Archives: family

Activism and Agitation

Together for Yes poster campaign launches!

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You can donate here!

https://togetherforyes.causevox.com

 

Already between me filming this and posting it, the amount raised has gone from 130,000 to 150,000!

This is how Together For Yes  will raise the money which will be spent on the campaign, from prochoice people all over Ireland.  We have been waiting a long time for this to happen, it’s been over 5 years from when the Abortion Rights Campaign was founded, to bring about a referendum and it’s members from all over the country have been working and preparing.

More blog posts to come soon, still feck that’s the fund raiser today and the restoration of the Maser Mural yesterday which have had me crying, but they are happy tears! No doubt more will be shed between now and the 25th of May!

 

Activism and Agitation

When will the #Repealthe8th Referendum be?

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Right now we are in a weird place re the upcoming referendum. We are waiting for the Gov to announce the wording and the date for the referendum. Once that happens there is a whole process that kicks off.

There hadn’t been an official date announced yet, a possible one has of the 25th of May.

But right now there is a court case in progress in our Supreme Court which is in relation to the 8th amendment. The Supreme Court case that needs to be resolved before the Eighth Amendment referendum

Until the Supreme Court rules, the Gov can not decide the wording of the referendum and can’t announce a date. We are in a holding pattern, so we are seeing media outlets who know there is much interest in with nothing ‘new’ to report. So we get pieces full of speculation. I know people are getting restless wanting to get a move on, but the Gov has to wait on the Supreme Court. And no the Gov can’t hurry along the courts, that would be a serious breach in separation of powers.

Frustrated with what you are seeing from media outlets I suggest you read instead. https://www.abortionrightscampaign.ie/2018/02/01/explainer-government-calls-for-repeal-and-new-provision-to-legislate-for-abortion/

Also maybe don’t share daft pieces which aren’t helpful, written to have ‘something” about on a media outlet. Why not share one of these instead

5 Facts About Abortion in Ireland

8 Myths, Busted!

8 Reasons to Repeal the 8th Amendment

They Say, We Say

A Brief History of Abortion in Ireland

Abortion FAQs

Or share this https://www.abortionrightscampaign.ie/2018/02/01/making-sure-you-can-vote/

I’m frustrated too, with waiting for the Supreme Court, but I am going to keep on talking to people about #repealthe8th And how if we want to have any change to bring about to compassionate healthcare at home in Ireland in line with human rights & best medical practice then we need to .

In the meantime groups are organising all over the country, get involved https://www.abortionrightscampaign.ie/get-involved/

 

Activism and Agitation

Gender is a spectrum

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I run into a lot of peope on twitter who spout harmful anti trans rethoric. Some of them seek me out cos I use the term pregnant people when discussing reproductive rights.

I rarely see it here on fb, Esp on friends time lines thankfully, how ever I am still going to make a statement.

Gender is between a person’s ears.

Transmen are men.
Transwomen are women.

Genderfuild people are either, & I respect them by being mindful of them, thier presentation on any given day, and which ever name/pronoun combination they need me to use.

Non gender binary people are those who are somewhere on the gender spectrum, I respect them by not expecting them to conform in any way to my ideas of gender presentation & using thier correct pronouns and names.

Agender people do not relate to being anywhere on the gender spectrum, I respect them by using the names and pronouns they need me to and by trying to not make gendered statements or assumptions about them.

Acknowledgement and acceptance are part of respect.

Gender is a spectrum, all people deserve respect.

Respect also means not outing a person to other people and being mindful when in public what I say. My words no matter how respectful may, in public but a person in danger or be used by strangers as an excuse to abuse or ridicule.

Yes this is far from the idea of people I grew up with, but life and people are always more wonderful than how it was dumbed down, to create sexist stereotypes.

I am always glad for the world stories and fantastic fiction I read as a teen which made me ponder beyond the gender binary.

I have zero time for not respecting people’s gender.

Activism and Agitation

#Repealthe8th is an #LGBT issue

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I am  delighted to have helped with an OP Ed by the Abortion Rights Campaign  in this months GCN on why #Repealthe8th is an #LGBT issue.

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This was published after I traveled to Galway to be part of a discussion on this very issue as part of Galway Pride Festival.

I got to meet a so many  people, who had a range of sexualities and gender identities and I got asked to sign a cast.

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I you want to know more click through to this months CGN issue and to page 16.

 

Activism and Agitation

4 years ago

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http://www.broadsheet.ie/2012/09/26/the-abortion-aircoach/

This popped on on my memory feed on Facebook, 4 years ago I took part in this photo op, which was for the 1st March for Choice. We have come a long way as the preparation for this years March for Choice (on the 24th of September) is in full swing.

If someone had of told me then, there would be donuts, people clamoring for jumpers, Farmers for Choice, a Fantasy Footy League and a growing number of pro choice TDs, I would have found it hard to believe.

We have come a long way in 4 years, and that is due to all of the hard amazing work people have put in to the Abortion Rights Campaign, putting in hours with skills they have, sharing those skills and learning new ones as we keep pushing for a referendum.

I am very proud of what has been achieved so far, but there is so much more work needing to be done. See you at the March starting at the Garden of Remembrance on Parnell Square from 1.30pm. 13876226_10208828761570167_3462884674749041549_n

 

Activism and Agitation

Myth Busting: Abortion and Breast Cancer

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So one of the other claptrap things which get said is that abortion increases a person’s risk of breast cancer; this is false.

There is zero connection between having an abortion and an increased risk of breast cancer.

There is how ever a connection between breastfeeding and lowering the risk of breast cancer.

http://www.breastcancer.org/risk/factors/breastfeed_hist

Breastfeeding can lower breast cancer risk, especially if a woman breastfeeds for longer than 1 year. There is less benefit for women who breastfeed for less than a year, which is more typical for women living in countries such as the United States. There are several reasons why breastfeeding protects breast health:

    • making milk 24/7 limits breast cells’ ability to misbehave
    • most women have fewer menstrual cycles when they’re breastfeeding (added to the 9 missed periods during pregnancy) resulting in lower estrogen levels
    • many women tend to eat more nutritious foods and follow healthier lifestyles (limit smoking and alcohol use) while breastfeeding

Beyond breast health protection, breastfeeding provides important health benefits to the baby and helps the bonding process.

So people who say that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer are assuming that a woman who has an abortion doesn’t already have children and hasn’t already breast fed.

The published stats from the NHS in the UK show that

54 per cent of those having terminations last year were already mothers 

So people who say that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer are assuming that a woman who has an abortion won’t go on to have have children children later in life, when it’s right for them to do so and maybe they might breast feed

Yes breastfeeding is best for a baby, and it can lower the risk of breast cancer, but “My Body My Choice” is not just about continuing a pregnancy, it is also about breast feeding.

Sometimes continuing a pregnancy is not the best thing for a person, sometimes breastfeeding is not the best thing for a person, some times it’s just not possible for a range of reasons and thank heavens we do have formula, we do have that Choice.

Anyone who says there is a connection between abortion and breast cancer is in my opinion being willfully ignorant of the medical facts, and of how people live their lives.

I had an abortion, I also have two children, both of whom I breastfed, all of those things were my choice about what I did with my body, and all of those choices should be respected and not used to scaremonger or tell people what they should do with their body.

 

Activism and Agitation

International Womens’ Day 2016

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When I wrote about the 100th anniversary of International Womens’ Day 5 years ago, there was very little about it anywhere. There certainly wasn’t a Google Doodle, there weren’t images being shared on Facebook and Twitter.

We have come along way in the last 105 years, we have come along way in the last 5 years.

We now have more women in the Dáil then ever, the silence around reproductive rights is being broken, the women esp young women are not hesitant to call themselves feminists.Women are sharing about the stuff they put up with, which we shouldn’t have too.

But we have far to go, to #repealthe8th and undo the years of cultural sexism in our society. This was written the year I was born, 40 years ago and much of this work still needs to be done.

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I hope to live for at least another 40 and now more then ever I am optimistic that we will see the changes, we all need for a better, fairer, kinder society.

Happy International Womens’ Day!  Onwards and Upwards!