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Ireland's anti-abortion travel ban

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William Crawley | 18:54 UK time, Tuesday, 1 May 2007

_42825151_ultrasound203.jpgShe is a 17 year-old pregnant woman -- a citizen of the Irish Republic -- and has been told that the child she is carrying . Should she be premitted to leave Ireland, where abortion is illegal, to have her pregnancy terminated in Britain?

Comments

  • 1.
  • At 07:05 PM on 01 May 2007,
  • wrote:

Of course.

  • 2.
  • At 07:13 PM on 01 May 2007,
  • Jane Gray wrote:

This is a tragic story. That this young woman should have to go to court to have an abortion in this case is a disgrace. The Irish government needs to find the moral courage to introduce a sensible policy on abortion. I am not arguing for the unfettered right to an abortion, but this kind of case (or others, where the child is likely to be severely disabled) are so obviously responsible.

  • 3.
  • At 08:43 PM on 01 May 2007,
  • Mark wrote:

Did you say Ireland or Iran?

  • 4.
  • At 08:47 PM on 01 May 2007,
  • wrote:

Should she be permitted to leave Ireland?????

Am I missing something here?

Regards,
Michael

  • 5.
  • At 08:53 PM on 01 May 2007,
  • wrote:

Not Idaho either!

  • 6.
  • At 10:57 PM on 01 May 2007,
  • Jen Erik wrote:

She should be able to have an abortion in Ireland.

  • 7.
  • At 10:58 PM on 01 May 2007,
  • L.Holmberg wrote:

There are dangers to the mother having a termination at 20 weeks so the termination is not the only concern but she should be given all the facts and make her choice.

  • 8.
  • At 11:20 PM on 01 May 2007,
  • Ekklesiastic wrote:

Michael:

Yeah you're missing a lot. She is currently not permitted by law to leave Ireland if she intends to have an abortion. In recent years, a young woman in a similar situation was arrest en route to the airport after her parents told the police that she was heading to Liverpool for an abortion.

  • 9.
  • At 12:06 AM on 02 May 2007,
  • wrote:

Approx 5,000 women from the south of Ireland have abortions in Engaland each year. The figure for the North is appoox 2,000.

  • 10.
  • At 12:45 AM on 02 May 2007,
  • Mark wrote:

I was startled to learn that among the 12 million people believed to be in the United States illegally, 50,000 of them are from Ireland. These illegal Irish aliens even have their own special advocacy group. I wonder how many of them are here for abortions. ;-)..... (And how many of them are really here because the beer is cold.)

BTW, Alan, there has never been a potato famine in Idaho...or in the rest of America as far as I can tell. We've got enough spuds to drown in. We've got enough spuds to put the fries in French fries.

  • 11.
  • At 01:27 AM on 02 May 2007,
  • wrote:

A few bad things do come East!

The same potato blight struck in the USA in 1843 and 1844 and in Canada in 1844. It is thought that the disease travelled to Europe on trade ships and spread to England and finally to Ireland, striking the south-east first. (1845 - 1848)

  • 12.
  • At 04:09 AM on 02 May 2007,
  • wrote:

Alan says: "A few bad things do come East!"

Surely you're not talking about beloved french fries, one of the most popular foods in the world?

  • 13.
  • At 05:15 PM on 02 May 2007,
  • wrote:

Ref : post#4

Yes Michael you missed the border! It only accommodates the ROI to have a border when it becomes a border of convenience something to hide behind.

  • 14.
  • At 02:45 PM on 03 May 2007,
  • wrote:

It seems it's going to die anyway, but how "humane" is the abortion procedure likely to be, for a foetus of that age?

Whether or not you regard it as a human life, research seems to show we're talking about an organism that can feel pain.

  • 15.
  • At 09:53 AM on 05 May 2007,
  • irenka wrote:

Some important information is missing from William Crawley's question: the girl is currently under the care of the Health Service Executive (HSE). All women can move freely to the UK for an abortion because they do not have to tell anybody the purpose of their journey. Due to the special circumstances of this case the authorities are aware of her motivation for such a journey.

  • 16.
  • At 05:39 PM on 06 May 2007,
  • wrote:

Irenka- I'd be interested to hear what you think that information changes about the rightness or wrongness of the policy? The authorities are aware of the motivation for her journey, therefore in this case they're able to enforce this draconian law, whereas in normal circumstances they're not aware of the reasons people travel in general and therefore can't enforce it. That says nothing about whether the law is right or not.

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