Abortion rights rally calls on Government to address gaps in care
The 10th Annual March for Choice for free, safe, legal, and local abortion access took place today outside Leinster House in Dublin. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie
A demonstration took place today outside the Dáil as abortion rights campaigners gathered for the 10th Annual March for Choice.
The rally heard speakers from women's rights groups across the country, and protestors demanded that the Government addresses gaps in care for abortion services across the country.
Activists displayed signs reading "My Uterus is mad" and "Keep your ideology off my bodily autonomy", as well as unveiling banners in support of access to abortion services.
The Abortion Rights Campaign were rallying to draw attention to the difficulty of accessing the service in some areas, especially in the north west of the country.
Activists claimed that a person seeking access to abortion could have to contact up to nine different clinics to find one that offers the service.
The protest also heard that access to abortion is just as difficult after 12 weeks now as it was before the repeal referendum of 2018.
About half of maternity hospitals offer the service, and the group says as few as one in 10 GPs offer an abortion service.
Abortion Rights Campaign convener Helen Stonehouse says this limit must be taken into account when abortion laws are reviewed later this year.
"Despite the fact that we won repeal in 2018, it is still very difficult to get an abortion in this country," she said.
"The Government will be reviewing this legislation to listen to the experiences of the people who have used this service and to change it so that is in line with international best practice," she claimed.
Isolde O’Breachain Carmody from Disabled Artists and Disabled Academics said public transport is a real barrier for those seeking an abortion, and that accessibility is also an issue.
"This is an area of the country that is notoriously unserved by public transport," she said. "There is one train station in Co Leitrim, and none at all in Donegal.
"The scant bus services are not wheelchair accessible," she claimed.
The rally also called on health minister Stephen Donnelly to deliver on promises of safe access to abortion, with strictly enforced Safe Access Zones to stop protestors intimidating abortion patients.
Anti-abortion demonstrations have been taking place recently in 10 counties across the country despite Department of Health claims there have been "limited" incidents.
Yvie Murphy from Together for Safety said this would not be accepted if it happened in any other walk of life.
Research currently being carried out by Maynooth University, in collaboration with the Together for Safety campaign, has found that anti-abortion campaigners have targeted GP surgeries and clinics in Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Louth, Roscommon, Tipperary, Waterford, and Wicklow.
There have also been protests outside maternity hospitals in Galway, Cork, Drogheda, and Dublin since abortion services were rolled out.
Protests were reported outside Limerick Hospital on 17 days in February and March, when the country was under level 5 lockdown.
