I have given up fiction for the new year, and so far so good.
Every verb I have used has been factual and based on evidence, while I’ve hardly used any adverbs at all. I’ve made this sacrifice so that I can concentrate all my creative efforts on editing my blog “Shorter than me” into some sort of bite sized manuscript, so that I can self-publish by Easter. However, I am finding editing to be a task that I am neither good at, nor interested in so perhaps my initial hopes for an Easter book launch, may be more poignant than that last speech in Bladerunner.
You know the one, the one all about all the tears in the rain.
A book in my hand is worth more than virtual pages on a WordPress blog, and I desire the hard version of “Shorter than me” for a number of reasons. Firstly to secure my own immortality, secondly to appease my monstrously vain and enormous ego, and finally so that my parents can read the stories, as they do not frequent the world wide web. Mam and Dad have no social media presence, so I would like them to have their own copies.
So what I am doing now, is not writing.
This is ranting, this is shouting, this is trying to give my monkey brain monologue an outlet and a voice, this is just saying what is mainly on my mind.
Today, what is mainly on my mind is my need to become an Irish citizen as soon as possible. I need to be Irish so that I am protected from the unknown fall-out of Brexit, and so that I can vote in the next referendum. I need to be Irish because I’ve lived here for so long now, that it’s almost rude not to apply.
In case you’re interested, the next referendum to be held in Ireland will ask its citizens (and not just its residents, hence my need to convert) if they wish to repeal or not repeal the 8th amendment to the Irish constitution. My understanding on this very complex of matters is that the 8th amendment essentially prevents a woman from having a pregnancy terminated in the State, however, she may travel to the UK or to other countries if she wishes to do so.
So here’s my problem.
I don’t think this referendum is actually about abortion.
It’s not about a person’s ethical, moral, religious, academic or hypothetical opinion about abortion. It’s strictly about equality. I’ll try to explain my point of view (because that’s all it is, after all, it’s just my point of view).
Let’s take two women who live in Ireland, one is called A and one is called B.
Both women have chosen not to continue with their pregnancies, but A can travel to the UK to have the procedure, while B cannot. B cannot travel because of a number of diverse reasons. Perhaps she is financially unable to travel or perhaps she has refugee or asylum seeker status, which would make it impossible for her to get a visa to enter the UK. Perhaps she is in an abusive relationship and is unable to leave her other children unattended, or perhaps she is the victim or rape or incest and does not have the agency to be able to organise the travel, on top of all the other trauma. Perhaps for a hundred other reasons, not even mentioned here, she cannot travel.
So woman A has the procedure in the UK, comes back to Ireland and continues with her life.
Woman B, however, now has to buy some medication from the internet, or perhaps from a friend of a friend. She now has to take this pill without any medical advice or supervision, support or counselling. Woman A and Woman B have two completely different sets of reproductive choices, based on their place in society, and typically, it’s the most vulnerable women in our society who are unable to travel.
But both women will still terminate their pregnancies.
Changing the law in Ireland will simply give all women equal rights to choose, how they end their pregnancy, not if they end it. Changing the law will not prevent one abortion, nor will it encourage another. Changing the law will just give all women, equal rights and access to safe and medically supervised treatment.
Current figures suggest that 11 women a day travel abroad for the procedure, but there is no reliable data on how many abortion pills are bought online or on the informal market (IFPA). We can assume, therefore, that everyone in Ireland knows more than one woman who has either travelled abroad for an abortion, or else bought the abortion pill online, and taken it here at home.
Surely, this can’t continue?
Please contact me, if you think this situation should continue, as I would love to hear from you. I’m not really interested in discussing our personal opinions about abortion, as I don’t think the referendum is about that. I honestly believe it’s about equality for all the women who live in Ireland. I take my application for Irish citizenship seriously, and I also take my ability and freedom to be able to vote in a referendum sincerely, so I want to think about my choice carefully.
Please contact me then, if you have a different point of view, based on the logic I have mentioned. So that’s what is mainly on my mind today, so just for today, I will leave it there.
Reference for the statistics:
In 2016, 3,265 women and girls gave Irish addresses at UK abortion services. This number is an underestimation, as not all women will provide their Irish addresses at UK abortion clinics. Some women also travel to other countries, such as the Netherlands.
Shorter than me 
Leave a comment