Texts and emails, Thursday 15 April 2010
Topic: Abortion and the British election debate.
Panellists: Prof William Binchy (TCD, and the Pro Life Campaign), Catherine Forde BL, of the Irish Family Planning Association, Fionnan Sheahan of the Irish Independent and Anton Savage (Communications Clinic).
My life has been destroyed since i aborted my baby, feelings of worthlessness and suicidal thoughts are my life now. I don’t know what to do.
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Does Prof. Binchy agree that any body that has obsessed about our sex lives has let us down?
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Hope European court will rule in favour of the women. Time this country provided abortions in these circumstances.
Mary, Sligo
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Great to hear and see William Binchy defending the unborn child.
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Your not equal if you have special needs with this government. You’d be better off not born.
Jean Smith
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Basically what William says is that it is okay to torture an unborn child with months of chemo been administered to his sick mother (because its legal)
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Hi Vincent. The Irish constitution is no longer the highest court in this country since we signed the Lisbon Treaty. Constitutional protection is no longer absolute so long as the European Court can overrule it. This is despite the promises of those campaigning for the treaty.
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I lost a child to cancer. My marriage ended. I suffered depression and got pregnant in another relationship to try and make up for my loss. The relationship was completely unsupportive and my doctor recommended an abortion because of my depression. Travelling to England nearly broke me. The stigma and feeling I was doing something illegal and bad made it even worse. Yes I regret it happened but I was in a very bad emotional state. No woman chooses abortion easily. Going to England increases the trauma and pain 100 per cent.
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Mr Binchy’s passion re abortion should be directed toward his own gender - what man can say that no child of his has not been aborted as a result of casual sex?
Pat
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Who cares about the 500 babies still born in Ireland each year? No one stands up for our babies and their rights!
M. O’Gorman
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What about a 12 or 13 year old child who is raped and pregnant? Do you think it’s moral to put her life and mind in danger by refusing an early chemical termination? This is barbaric and misogynistic.
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Vincent, a woman has no right to kill a child. Only God. In case 99% of women know if they sex they will get pregnant.
John
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Congrats to all three of you for an informative and most civilised debate on such a divisive issue.
John Lupton
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The state provides little or no childcare facilities or paternity leave, thus leaving women economically marginalised. The state has no place controlling a woman's body. Abortion is a reality that should be legislated for.
Mark, Clondalkin
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Vincent, William Binchy is spot on. It's the baby's body that matters not the woman's body.
Jim, Cork
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If it’s illegal to have an abortion why don’t they arrest the women for drinking and smoking while pregnant. It’s their body to do what they want with it.
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You talk about human rights...what about the thousands of children who are born into neglect and abuse? Please think of those people...that is what pro life is about. You speak of the humanity of the unborn, what about the humanity of the neglected and abused children of today and now.
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Let's not forget the social status issue. Well known that if you can afford it private 'procedures' can be accessed here privately in Ireland. Poor women can't afford to travel to UK. The rest of us simply borrow the money.
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The government need to stop avoiding the issue and legislate properly for this issue. When does life begin? What is the unborn? At what stage should it be afforded protection? These seem to be questions that no one wants to answer yet they are the core issues that need to be decided definitively as all other issues and decisions stem from this. Women should have full control over their own bodies and any decisions made in relation to their own health and well being.
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Not only are women told they'll go to prison if they have abortions, they are also told if they travel for some type of IVF treatment such as pre-genetic diagnosis, they could also be arrested and charged. This is a very wide issue, it’s not just yes or no to abortion.
Jeanette, Dublin
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Everyone on the panel is too old to speak for young women. They are beyond the stage of having to deal with pregnancy in this modern world.
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A family friend, a lovely 19year old girl committed suicide following an abortion. She was bullied into having one by her loving boyfriend and his and her families, because having the baby would have 'ruined her life'.
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Why are we being subjected to those two peoples opinions because that is all they have to offer is their opinions. The only people who have the right to make the decision on whether to have an abortion are the women who find themselves in a position where their circumstances lead them to having to make the decision. Why should the rest of us be allowed to vote in a referendum on abortion it is just ludicrous.
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Bring abortion to this country get your rosaries off our ovaries! Let the woman speak, what the hell does he mean when he says pregnancy through rape rarely happens?! Disgrace.
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William Binchy would be better engaged in supporting the live, deprived children of this country. Let women make their own decisions.
Dolores
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I got raped at 20 and had the baby, and I wish I hadn't because it reminds me of him. How dare you!
Clare
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Mr Binchy is at it again telling us women of Ireland how to deal with our reproductive system. I am a mother of 4 children and a midwife. I am disappointed to see him back on TV.
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It’s always the same with these pro life right wing do-gooders. They care more about a collection of cells than living people who are in such a terrible situation that they have to consider getting am abortion. I wouldn’t trust that man for one minute, he has that self righteousness like the church.
John Adams, Cork
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2010 and we're still having the abortion debate. A middle-aged man like Dr. Binchy trying to have a say in what control a woman has over her own body. Shows just how backward this country still is.
Mark, Clondalkin
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Abortion is simply an excuse to murder an innocent child, everyone deserves the right to live, it's our job as adults and potential parents to protect our next generation..not murder them before they have a fair shot at life.
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I know a couple who have had two miscarriages and they desperately want to have a baby. The thought of someone deliberately killing her baby must be abhorrent to them as it is to me.
Catherine Daly, Cork
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I had an abortion five years ago and under no circumstances should it be let into Ireland. We talk about women’s rights but the IFPA never mention the after effects of abortion and forgot to mention them to me. I have been scarred and depressed since my termination and think it’s a horrific thing for any woman to have to go through.
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I went from a fertility clinic to abortion clinic after 3 years trying for baby. As my baby was terminal ill 18 weeks and would die before giving birth so what choice did I have? I had already lost a baby at 20 weeks and delivered my baby here and having to travel this time made me and still does ashamed, lonely and no support from any agencies here it will haunt me forever! So let him go through what I did and make that trip when every bone in your body does not want to guarantee he will change his view.
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The Pro Life movement is a "one horse band". They express support for the "unborn" but appear to have no interest in the child once born! There has been a deafening silence from the Pro Life Movement throughout the whole sorry child abuse scandal; no spokespersons appear on the air waves to condemn erring clerics or a recalcitrant church bent on protecting itself at the expense of abused children, many of them abused in church institutions by priests and brothers. Would they not be better employed in seeking support for the abused and seeking to have children already born, protected?
Matt Reville
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This is 2010. Abortion is required in a modern society. By abortion not being legally available, women are forced to go abroad at one of the most difficult times in their lives. Their emotional needs are being abused. There needs to be less talk on this subject and more modern forward thinking action.
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I have two beautiful children and fully support any woman’s right to make what is the most difficult decision to have an abortion. Most women I know have been faced with this choice and the ongoing criminalisation of women simply adds to the pain of an unwanted pregnancy. Own experience suggests that pro lifers concern with children does not extend beyond birth!
Siobhan
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How can we call Ireland a modern democracy when women don't have control or choice over their own bodies? It’s time for Ireland to legalize abortion. What happened to freedom of choice?
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