The article mentions Savita Halappanavar briefly; I can't believe that was 6 years ago. Her death was a tragic example of how the restriction "only to protect the life of the pregnant person"...
The article mentions Savita Halappanavar briefly; I can't believe that was 6 years ago. Her death was a tragic example of how the restriction "only to protect the life of the pregnant person" falls short of its own stated goal.
The draft bill published before the vote seems relatively reasonable, although 12 weeks is short compared to laws in other countries and a 3-day waiting period is reminiscent of the types of restrictions in the US meant to make things harder for pregnant people. Perhaps in Ireland the burden of having to take more time off work, find more childcare, and/or travel for longer won't be as onerous as it is for some folks in the US who have only a few clinics in their state.
I'm guessing the emergency section is in part a response to Halappanavar's death, requiring only the decision of 1 doctor. Requiring 2 doctors to sign off on all other abortions past 12 weeks seems too restrictive, but I haven't read any research or statistics on that. (I'm not sure if I've ever seen that type of restriction in the US? I may just be forgetting some.)
I'm glad to see that abortion in the case of fetal anomalies leading to death is probably the least controversial part of it, perhaps in part due to the stories women shared (according to the article I linked). The horrible pain of terminating a wanted pregnancy shouldn't be compounded by the stress of travel and feeling isolated and forgotten by your country.
The article mentions Savita Halappanavar briefly; I can't believe that was 6 years ago. Her death was a tragic example of how the restriction "only to protect the life of the pregnant person" falls short of its own stated goal.
The draft bill published before the vote seems relatively reasonable, although 12 weeks is short compared to laws in other countries and a 3-day waiting period is reminiscent of the types of restrictions in the US meant to make things harder for pregnant people. Perhaps in Ireland the burden of having to take more time off work, find more childcare, and/or travel for longer won't be as onerous as it is for some folks in the US who have only a few clinics in their state.
I'm guessing the emergency section is in part a response to Halappanavar's death, requiring only the decision of 1 doctor. Requiring 2 doctors to sign off on all other abortions past 12 weeks seems too restrictive, but I haven't read any research or statistics on that. (I'm not sure if I've ever seen that type of restriction in the US? I may just be forgetting some.)
I'm glad to see that abortion in the case of fetal anomalies leading to death is probably the least controversial part of it, perhaps in part due to the stories women shared (according to the article I linked). The horrible pain of terminating a wanted pregnancy shouldn't be compounded by the stress of travel and feeling isolated and forgotten by your country.