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In our Q&A: Eighth Amendment Referendum series, we are answering questions our readers have submitted in relation to the upcoming vote on 25 May.
THE QUESTION
NINE WOMEN AND girls leave Ireland every day to have a termination in the UK. A further three order abortion pills online.
More than 170,000 women and girls have travelled to another country for an abortion since 1980. The vast majority went to Britain, while a smaller number went to the Netherlands.
On 25 May, Irish people will have the opportunity to vote in a referendum asking whether or not the Eighth Amendment, Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution, should be repealed.
The amendment gives equal constitutional status to the mother and the unborn and effectively bans abortion from taking place legally in most scenarios in Ireland.
However, women are permitted to receive information about terminations from their doctors, and travel abroad to have one if they so choose.
In a referendum in November 1992, the majority of voters backed a constitutional amendment which allowed women and girls to travel “between the State and another state” to get access to a termination” (62.4% in favour).
Voters also backed the following amendment on the right to information: ”This subsection shall not limit freedom to obtain or make available, in the State, subject to such conditions as may be laid down by law, information relating to services lawfully available in another state.”
So, how many women and girls travel to the UK to have abortions?
Figures from the UK Department of Health show that 190,406 abortions were reported as taking place in England and Wales in 2016 – of which 185,596 involved residents of England and Wales. The vast majority of these abortions (92%) were performed under 13 weeks of pregnancy.
In 2016, 4,810 abortions were carried out on women who were not residents of England and Wales – compared with 5,190 in 2015. The number of abortions to non-residents has fallen each year since 2003, when the figure was 9,078. The 2016 number is the lowest in any year since 1969.
Some 3,265 females travelled from Ireland to the UK for abortions in 2016, the latest year for which we statistics are available. That means Irish females accounted for almost seven in 10 (67.9%) of the non-resident abortions carried out in Britain that year.
The figures also show that another 724 women and girls gave addresses from Northern Ireland (15%).
This compares to 3,451 who gave an address in the Republic, and 833 who gave an address in Northern Ireland, in 2015.
The vast majority of the females who gave addresses from the Republic lived in Dublin – 1,175.
During a Dáil debate in January, Health Minister Simon Harris listed how many women and girls left Irish counties to go to the UK for terminations.
He stated: “These are real women, such as the 36 from county Carlow who travelled to the UK for an abortion in 2016, or the 38 from Mayo, the 69 from Tipperary, the 85 from Wicklow, the 241 from Cork and the 1,175 women from Dublin.
“Women from every county in the Republic travelled to the UK in 2016 and we need to acknowledge them all, including the 49 from Kerry; 130 from Kildare; 21 from Leitrim; 20 from Roscommon; 69 from Wexford; 39 from Cavan; 15 from Monaghan; 99 from Limerick; 53 from Clare; 38 from Westmeath; 63 from Donegal; 113 from Galway; 44 from Kilkenny; 42 from Laois; 83 from Louth; 100 from Meath; 28 from Offaly; 29 from Sligo; 16 from Longford; and 56 from Waterford.”
Women in the age groups ranging from 20-39 accounted for most of the terminations (85%).
However, 10 girls under the age of 16 sought an abortion in the UK last year, as did 56 girls aged 16 or 17 and 174 women aged 18 or 19. A further 255 women aged 40 and over also had terminations.
Just over half of these women (51%) had a partner, while almost one in five (19%) were married or in a civil partnership.
Almost four in five of the women and girls (79%) had not had a previous abortion. Some 85% of the terminations took place within 12 weeks of gestation, with the majority of these (2,256) taking place within the first nine weeks.
Abortion pills
Commenting on figures when they were released last year, Helen Deely, head of the HSE Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme, said: “It appears that the rate of women travelling abroad for an abortion declined relatively rapidly between 2001 and 2007 and in recent years the decline has been more gradual.”
She said recent research shows that “increasing numbers of women from the island of Ireland are making contact with online abortion pill providers”.
Figures published by one provider would suggest a 62% increase in the number of women from Ireland contacting that online service over a five-year period, from 548 in 2010 to 1438 in 2015.
“The authors report that the number of women who consult with the service is not indicative of the actual number of women who were sent the abortion pill and subsequently took it.
“This is because women change their minds, experience a spontaneous miscarriage, decide to travel abroad to obtain an abortion or decide to continue with their pregnancy.”
Deely added that research shows, while the vast majority of women did not need to contact medical services following taking the abortion pill at home, approximately one in 10 (9.3%) “reported to the online provider that they were experiencing a symptom for which they were advised to seek medical advice and 95% sought medical advice as advised”, Deely said.
Why women and girls have abortions
The Oireachtas Eighth Amendment Committee examined the UK’s abortion system during its hearings last year.
In November Dr Patricia Lohr, Medical Director of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, told the committee that BPAS has been “providing abortion care to women from Ireland since 1968“.
Indeed, BPAS’s website notes: “We’ve helped Irish women for a very long time, so we understand the difficulties you may face to get treatment.
BPAS has clinics in over 60 locations – many are close to ports and airports with direct budget travel from Ireland.
“Our special prices help you afford the best possible clinical care. More discount is available if you visit an Irish crisis pregnancy counselling agency before attending for BPAS treatment.”
The organisation is in favour of repealing the Eighth Amendment.
Speaking about Irish women travelling to the UK for abortions, Lohr told the Oireachtas committee: “Last year 3,625 women were recorded in the annual abortion statistics produced by the Department of Health in England as having given an Irish address when they presented for treatment. Over the past 10 years, the number of women giving Irish addresses has fallen, from 4,600 in 2008.
This decline may be underpinned by a number of factors, including: better access to contraceptive services, and emergency contraception, increased access to abortion medication, as well as raised awareness that free treatment can be obtained with a UK address.
Lohr noted that a paper in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology published in July “reported that between January 2010 and December 2015, 5,650 women from Ireland and Northern Ireland contacted one online provider alone to request medical termination of pregnancy”.
Lohr told the committee there is “little difference between the reasons why women from Ireland present compared to those from the UK”. She said the reasons given by women and girls seeking abortions are “diverse and multifaceted”.
They involve “financial hardship, knowledge that her family is complete, inadequate partner or family support, domestic violence, or simply feeling they are not in the position to care for a baby at that point in their lives”, Lohr stated.
Of Irish women who receive abortion care in the UK, 70% are married or with a partner. Nearly half have already had at least one previous birth, meaning they are already mothers. All this is in keeping with information we have for women from the UK.
Lohr noted that, while some abortions “take place of pregnancies that were planned and indeed wanted, such as those for foetal anomaly, the majority of the women we see were trying to avoid pregnancy when they conceived”.
She said the majority of women from Ireland who had abortions in the UK were using a form of contraception when they conceived. An analysis of 2,703 women from Ireland who were treated at BPAS clinic over a four-year period found they were using the following forms of contraception:
Lohr told the committee that medical abortion accounts for the majority of early terminations carried out on residents in the UK, stating: “Many women prefer it as it is akin to a natural miscarriage, they can avoid an anaesthetic, and they can be at home when the pregnancy passes.”
However, the majority of early abortions provided for Irish women are performed surgically – 71%, compared to 28% for women resident in England and Wales.
Lohr said this is because, for financial and practical reasons, many women travelling from Ireland “often aim to fly in and out of the UK within a day, and as medical abortion involves leaving the clinic after taking the second set of medication and going home to pass the pregnancy, it is not clinically optimal for that to happen on the way to the airport or the flight home”.
“Effectively this means that women from Ireland are in all practical senses denied a choice of method in abortion,” Lohr said.
She also told the committee that three in 10 abortions (31%) carried out in the UK on women from the Republic of Ireland are performed at 10 weeks or later, compared to 20% for women who are resident in England and Wales.
Lohr said the earlier in a pregnancy a termination can be performed the better, both in terms of women’s “physical and mental wellbeing”.
“Reasons for later presentation will include the time it takes to organise travel and make logistical arrangements, particularly for those with work and childcare commitments,” she stated.
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Bertie. Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass GO. Do not collect £200.
Bertie would still get the 200 no matter what….
How are there thumbs down to this comment?? Are people so stupid that they don’t realize at this stage he was one of the main architects of this countries demise??? The man was and still is one of the best paid criminals in Irish history
…Aided of course by the Drumcondra Mafia – look it up folks, its WELL known and reported on in the media and even has a book about them!
Bertie owns the Jail.
Bertie should be IN jail!!!
Sure, his biggest disappointment on leaving office was that he “didn’t get the Bertie bowl built”, The arrogance of the man knows no bounds.
I’d love for him to run for president so that we could all NOT vote for him – I doubt however his ego will let him truly realise how despised he is.
What planet is that gobshite living on ?
Planet Bertiewood!
Scratch that, la la land!
Good man Bertie, still living in La-la land.
Ah! DO RUN please Bertie ?
We would love you to showcase your delusions, with the lowest vote in the history of the Presidency for a FF Candidate!
So just to clarify "Bertie brown envelope i cant really recall that sure it was only a couple of grand sterling I really would of liked a presidential pension Ahern" thinks he would of become president if it hadn’t been for one or two little things like tribunals, f/f total destruction of our economy by there cosying up to bankers, builders and unions, by there jobs for the boys culture and basically not being able to see the wood through the trees. Yeah I think he’s spot on he would of become president and if my aunt had balls shed be my uncle!
There’s a large percentage of the Dublin 9 area who stil think the man poos rosary beads. Outside there he wouldn’t do so well.
His dirtbag brother only got 9% in the locals in 2009 and 12% in the By-election in 2009. At a time when not as many people had seen through the criminal conspiracy that is FF as have now.
Well that’s the Kiss of Death for poor Gay Mitchell anyway.
I’m pretty sure Bertie is bi-polar, or some other psychological disorder which allows him to completely disconnect from reality. He is THE reason Fianna Fáils’ popularity “when south”, and still he comes out with this blather. He should be facing the same plight as Gaddafi/Qaddahfi/Gaddafy.
Good one Brian,
Thats the one thing that popped out at me.. Good friend of Gay Mitchell, eh?
Well Gay, thats one less vote you’ll be gettin..
What a way to take out Gay Mitchell!! Bertie you still got it!
Heh, I was thinking the same thing.
Ah name sake of your had something to do with FF’s popularity heading south, along with our economy and tax funds for the next generation.
One can only laugh at his lack of any attachment to the voting public. How can he think himself perfect for the role when he has been the worst taoiseach on record
with the exception of Biffo of course!
I think he was worse than Biffo. Biffo was his lapdog and wasn’t fit to be a TD, not to mind Taoiseach. He was ill equipped to deal with the responsibility he was given, and resorted to letting himself be led, and hopping into a pint glass and playing chieftain and comedian to a host of yes men in Farmleigh and hotel bars up and down the country at every opportunity. Such is the mindset within Fianna Fail, party above all.
Bertie had a sleveen guile to him, and knew exactly what he was doing.
should be getting jail time not air time ! treacherous gobshite !
The little bollocks !!!
Go To hell Bertie you scumbag, You destroyed our sovereignty
“Well I think if the party popularity didn’t go South, I mean I still would have done alright,” he said.
Did Bertie ever perhaps consider the fact that the party’s popularity went South because of HIM. Him, his corruption and his Drumcondra Mafia?
He’s already said elsewhere that the party was grand when he left office! At this point I feel sorry for the man. He’s obviously got a mental condition!
Yeah, I mean, for honest Fianna Fáilers like myself & others (we do exist!) I’m gonna be getting spit on at the doorsteps for long time BECAUSE of him!
Think people tend to forget that he fucked over Fianna Fáil before he ever fucked over the country!
@ P.A..W FF FUCKED THEMSELVES BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED IN ALL THE BULLSHITTERS THAT CAME BEFORE AND AFTER BERTIE AHEARN BERTIE IS JUST A FF MANUFACTURED DUMMY
He was the same as a very long list of FF’ers over the last 35 years. How any decent person could be a member of them baffles me. I genuinely believe it to be impossible. Most FF’ers I have ever met are on the make, that is the whole reason the party is hated. Ahern is especially hated but he is reflective of FF’s political ethos and culture. How ye went from the type of TD and cllr now from the likes of Séan Moylan and Séan LeMass is stunning.
@ Paul; you make it sound as if boning Fianna Fail is a bigger affront to you than screwing the country.
Just saying.
To paraphrase ‘if I wasn’t a corrupt politician or have face planted the country into an economic disaster zone I could have been the king’
Bertie has to Irelands answer to ‘chemical Ali’.
Away with the fairies.
Lock that man up, he’s a danger to others if he’s that bleeding delusional
He can comment away and laugh as us fools for paying him his 125k per year and his expenses and his God knows what else.
So if people hadn’t realized he was a total scumbag, he believes he would have been in with a chance…..
genius
Unbelievable, the man is still in denial. It wasn’t me it was the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
This man will probably go down in Irish history more hated than Cromwell.
And I will bet that Gay Mitchell will love to hear that he has Bertie’s endorsement. That knocked a few more percent off Gay’s vote.
The cocky prick. Its in jail he should be.
That clown has lost the run of himself altogether.
ha ha ha ha the dope
What a plonker!!
LOL
this man needs to have his head checked,he is a parasite and he should be in prison
What an árashole
THAT MAN BELIEVE,S HE CAN WALK ON WATER ID WISH THE FUCK HE TRY IT IN THE DEEPEST PART OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN
Grrr…. hes gettin a bit owld for the puppy dog looks now… I’d prefer to keep him outside the house if he thinks he can continue pissing where he pleases!!
brill comment made me burst out laughing…….
brill comment
@modern. LMAO. Really. What an image it conjures up!
how did we ever vote for him to run our country – he is deluded, corrupt and a symbol of how we have ended up in the worst economic crisis after the Great Famine in our history. He should just disappear quietly having claimed nearly €250K expenses sinc he left the Dail – my taxes on his phone bill – seriously!?!
Icarus may well have observed the same thing about his ability to fly as he plummeted toward earth, “Well, if it hadn’t been for the heat of the sun…”
Bertie Ahearn is not delusional. You have to remember Bertie is a genuine gangster. A gangster believes they can do no wrong as it’s always someone else’s fault – "if it wasn’t for the hassles of the tribunals". Brilliant quote. This sums it up. Nothing worse to hinder a persons career than being asked to explain your dishonesty.
Lets just put Jedward up for the job they would do a better job…..
As a member of FF I really think BB is cracked if he even thought that he would get 10% – polls or no polls. FF are deluded if they even believe the polls are that good. I think it is the pollsters that are trying to impress FF for some reason. They have a lot of contrition to offer like the Catholic Church had to do. The party would be wise to come out and purge itself. And then help in reforming our economy and overpaid under performing civil service.
You have some neck telling decent people want should be done. Reform our economy – your a member of FF. Why should we believe that you give one toss about our economy or country or the Irish people. Why?
As for overpaid under performing, you are the party of overpaid and under performing.
Wouldn’t you get a bit of pride in your country and self, leave FF. Getting the bit of tarmac on the road is never worth it.
Contrition is one thing, Michael. At least the church can fall back on the many priests who did and continue to do, good work. And I say that as one of the church’s biggest critics on here.
By contrast, every FF’er I’ve come across has managed to dirty their bib in some way, some to greater effect than others. It’s not contrition that’s needed there, it’s consignment to history, with the hope that we as a country learn the lessons we need to, from that.
I want to help you Bert, ya olde scallywag.
Barry Lenihan is also a researcher with the David Harvey Show on 4FM – and he’s on there now talking about this.
One too many and you might turn Bertie!!! What a tool!
TO AUTHOR SINEAD O CARROLL PLEASE POST THIS THREAD TO THAT DELUSIONAL FOOL
Derek,
Your chewing gum seems to have stuck on the shift or the CAPS Keys.
Was this all a very clever way to get Mitchell out of the running? Anger people more with delusional self-promotion then drop Mitchell’s name in…or is he that stupid? Considering how much he’s gotten away with the man is either a secret evil genius posing as a bumbling idiot…or possibly just a jammy gobshite…I really don’t know at this stage!
Still, it conjures up a great image.
Mitchell – a Waffler – a right wing homophobic religious zealout
Bertie – a Bullshitter – who indemnified the Church against the financial fallout from Paedophile Priests
Picture them both in Finnegan’s having pints at the taxpayers expense in their golden years.
A pair of Gombeen Men.
_________________________________
Write “David Norris” On The Ballot Sheet
Mark An “X” Beside His Name
Send Them A Message
The feckin’ ejit is so far detached from reality, if he admitted his role in the down fall of not only FF but the country how could he look in the mirror each day? He needs a check up from the neck up-Mr Teflon still suits him!
FF backed Bertie to the hilt. Cowen, Lenihan, Martin etc etc all the way down to the lowest party level were all mad about de Bert. When the truth became known about him, it did not change their views of him. Same way they had no trouble with Haughey. People stopped joining FF for political reasons in the 60′s, it became an Irish Freemasons with a strong criminal culture after that. Bertie didn’t ruin FF, he is FF. He is their avatar, their beating heart and his ethics and morals are the morals of de Party since the mid 70′s. Séan Lemass, our finest Taoiseach warned against the likes of Haughey, Des o’Malley etc, political carpet baggers who had no interest in serving the nation of the people. Bertie perfectly represents FF and they him.
All true, Tony. Anyone who joins Fianna Fail is either a) delusional, b) criminal but definitely not c) ideological. Cancerous.
Completely deluded.What kind of a bubble does this fella live in?!
One paid for by us….
‘I think it would have been [the perfect job for me] in the normal case of events’
Case? Did he really say Case?
Another Case of Bertie upsettin’ the apple tart of the English language. Par for the Course. Of Course.
Don’t think any of us will ever truly understand what life is like on Planet Bertie.
This is known as The Kiss of Death for Mitchell
========================================
Backing Mitchell
The former Taoiseach said he believes Fine Gael’s candidate Gay Mitchell will top the polls.
“I’d say Mitchell definitely has it,” he told Linehan. ”He’s a good friend of mine, we get on well.”
========================================
Is this the same Bertie quoted here -
‘…[Aherne's] dismissal of Gay Mitchell has become the stuff of Dail legend — even though it happened as long ago as 1994. “If you stop waffling we might get some work done,” he told him. “You’re a waffler. You’ve been years around here, waffling.” …’
_________________________________
Write “David Norris” On The Ballot Sheet
Mark An “X” Beside His Name
Send Them A Message
But I didnt ever want Norris as president…?
Wudda Cudda Shudda!!! Delusions Bertie!!
Ah come on lads, sure he was after all, “a fella you could have a drink down the pub with” ………
narcissistic personality disorder to a tee, the definitiion of this condition and its advice to onlookers is a good read…nothing can be done for these people…walk away…they dangerous.
i agree…has anyone asked the question and demanded an answer,what the hell would he need TWO secretaries for? and if he has TWO how many has Enda, these are the sort of questions that need to concentrate the mind now, not blasting off Bertie, he is not worth this effort or input, find out where the money is going and why
if you mean you would have come last…then yeah bertie you greedy pri*k you would have ‘done alright”
Poor Bertie. Perhaps someone should make a film about it: http://youtu.be/xNzBgR0UoYo
And if my auntie had balls, she’d be my uncle.
Makes me think of Bertie doing a Brando impression like in “On the waterfront” with Haughey. ” I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let’s face it. It was you, Charley”
Dear Bertie. Conor Lenihan is in Russia. Is there any chance you might relocate to sunnier climes? Libya springs to mind…
Are we surprised? This is the man who said his biggest regret was that he didn’t get the Bertie Bowl built… Hilarious
What did Bertie do,did i miss something again?…Hic…
Never mind that Brian, give us an oul song there ;)
A jasus Ryan your twisting me liver,me brian,if i was not a pro i would be puking me vodka.I will be having daymares for months now.Hic!…
While he would have no chance of being elected I do believe he would poll stronger than people would expect. The right campaign management and he is "the man of the people who brought peace to Northern Ireland". Politics is very fickle, look at America less than four years after rejecting the relatively centre right wing politics(centre right by American standards) of McCain the Americans are showing support for someone is further right-wing. I do not support Bertie nor would I vote for him but I still say he would finish ahead of either of the independents.
Thanks for that.
If the world said black, you’d say white, eh anonymous?
yeah,Bertie big house for you……..MOUNTJOY
this man is deluded in the extreme, and should be jailed once mahon exposes some of his corruption..i say some as i don’t believe we know the half of it and may never know the full extent. FF/micheal martin would be well advise to distance themselves even more than they did up to now, if they want any hope then stay away from him!
IM WRITING IN CAP,S BECAUSE MAKIN SURE EVERBODY CAN READ IT AIN,T YOU ONE OF THESE FF EX SNEER,S
have your say