Trying to square the circle - Abortion debate

Yesterday morning, just after dealing with the latest details on the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill and the report on the needless death of Savita Halappanavar, the very first word uttered by RTÉ’s Morning Ireland news reader was “Ryanair”.

The coincidence, the ironic juxtaposition, was a reminder, a reality check from the real world, that no matter what eventually transpires on legislation dealing with pregnancy abortion is and will always be a reality in modern Ireland — even if it is out-sourced to other jurisdictions.

The comfort sought by those who insist that Ireland must remain abortion free must be of a flimsy, transparent kind, more imagined than lived, when this fact is accepted. It shows we are happier dealing with the complexities of theory rather than the cold, sometimes ugly and cruel, actuality of lives lived by women today.