Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Irish women are tweeting details of their menstrual cycles to Prime Minister Enda Kenny to call for a repeal to the country’s restrictive abortion laws.
Abortion is socially divisive in Ireland where, amid large street protests from both sides of the fraught debate, a complete ban was only lifted in 2013 when terminations were allowed if a mother’s life was in danger.
After Ireland became the first country to adopt gay marriage via a popular vote this year, marking a major shift in what was once a strongly Catholic and socially conservative society, calls for abortion law reform have gained momentum.
“Since we know how much the Irish state cares about our reproductive parts, I think it’s only fair that the women of Ireland let our leader @EndaKennyTD know the full details of our menstrual cycle,” comedian Grainne Maguire said in a tweet this week to kick off a campaign that has gone viral.
Kenny, a practising Catholic, was sent plastic foetuses and letters written in blood by pro-life campaigners for bringing in the limited reforms two years ago and has said any further changes will be left to the next government.
His junior coalition partner, Labour, has already said it will campaign at the elections next year to allow abortion for cases such as rape, incest and fatal foetal abnormality.
Activists are seeking the abolition of the eighth amendment of the constitution, which enshrines the equal right to life of the mother and her unborn child, while their opponents demand that it remains in place to safeguard all life.
https://twitter.com/TaraFlynn/status/661970966369685504
https://twitter.com/sunniecoolbeans/status/662346341977358336
https://twitter.com/Heidiboots/status/661621467176689664
https://twitter.com/DelsolClaire/status/662012379924987904
(With inputs from Reuters)
