Campaign for Ireland abortion referendum turns testy

"Testy"? This campaign has had more dirty tricks, lies and outside interference than Brexit.

What these laws do to women is unconscionable and unforgivable. Repeal, repeal, repeal!

As stated in the article, criminalization of abortion is useless. Persons who want an abortion will find a way to have one, or resort to unsafe methods.

I read some testimony of Irish women who had an abortion in the UK. The fact that it is forbidden in Ireland even in the case when the baby is already dead in the womb is mind boggling.

As these things always do in the modern age.  Outrage, dirty tricks, mudslinging.  all part of modern political and social discourse.

I suspect as the Catholic church loses its place in Irish society (because of the very ‘christian’ sexual molestation of both boys and girls), abortion will increase as the government slowly slips into the 20th century.

Let's hope pro-life nutters are defeated.

Once again it's far right American political groups paying for dodgy "political consultants" to influence the vote, just as they did for Brexit.

"The Times of London reported that the Pro Life Campaign, Ireland’s largest umbrella anti-abortion group, has retained uCampaign, a Washington firm that has developed apps for the Trump campaign, the National Rifle Association, the Republican National Committee and Vote Leave. (Neither uCampaign nor the Pro Life Campaign responded to requests for comment.)

The Transparent Referendum Initiative, a small group of Irish technology advocates, said it had already detected paid social media campaigns stealthily targeting Irish voters. This month, the group introduced a crowdsourced monitoring tool to detect and investigate anonymous or vaguely sourced paid advertising on Facebook. It has already identified 92 such ads relating to the Irish referendum, 55 with anti-abortion messages and 37 in support of abortion rights."

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/26/world/europe/ireland-us-abortion-referendum.html

Hopefully the young people will swing the vote and this cruel law will be repealed.

Abortion should always be a last resort, but if the "pro-life" people want to force their morals onto others, they need to step up and ensure the babies are guaranteed loving, safe, parents and a wonderful life.

Demanding that someone else become a parent without 100% financial support or a perfect adoption is wrong.

A lot of the campaign money are coming from groups outside Ireland

goldorak:

Let's hope pro-life nutters are defeated.

Amen. However, that word really does a disservice to people who are really pro-life - you know those who are vegetarians or want strict rules on who can or cannot buy guns, etc. I'd say, anti-choice, hypocrites and nosey-parkers are more apt terms.

And I don't think most women who do have abortions do it lightly. I would like to see these 'pro-lifers' step up a gear and perhaps adopt these children or help pay for their upbringing.

A lot of the campaign money are coming from groups outside Ireland

I don't think Russia can be blamed this time. Only one big country I can think of. The same one whose 'pro-lifers' pounced on those parents in the UK where babies were terminally-ill and used them for their own evil gains.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/05/23/europe/ireland-abortion-referendum-american-campaigners-intl/index.html

Young anti abortion americans are going to Ireland to campaign for the "no".

a UCD student, helped spearhead a secular campaign utilising the hashtag #OurFuture. One of the anti-abortion campaigns uses the simple slogan "Love Both".

You'd never think that UCD students were once at the forefront of protest in Ireland. But the radicalism of the 60s ebbed away and a low point was a condom machine being removed (after a student complained) in the early 90s.

Thankfully, the apathy is gone and the influence of the RCC in Ireland is virtually non-existent now. There are pockets of conservatism, notably in rural areas like Leitrim and the far right Youth Defence, but but it appears the Yes vote will win.

What these laws do to women is unconscionable and unforgivable. 

What about what pro-abortion laws do to babies? Particularly ones that are 20 weeks and older who have brain activity, heart beats, and capable of feeling pain. If there is going to be abortion at least compromise such that it occurs before the baby becomes a sentient being. Otherwise it’s infanticide, cruel and barbaric.

The Irish position is abortions in the first 12 weeks and only later if the women is in danger of dying.

I would consider that overly restrictive based on the science. I could see wanting to be on the safe side because we are talking about the life of a defenseless and innocent human-being. 20 weeks seems more reasonable on that score.

The sad tale of Savita

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/23/ireland-abortion-referendum-savita-father-galway

https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/professor-savita-would-be-alive-today-if-not-for-8th-470954.html

It took her death to finally bring about change.

Nobody should be forced into parenthood unwillingly.