A new referendum on abortion
April 27, 1992 • government to drop the Maastricht protocol. Irish women do not consider this as interference by other EC countries in Irish affairs. EC member states have already refused to allow the protocol to be amended, thus endorsing our anti-abortion constitution, a constitution which denies women information on abortion services in other EC countries. All European countries that ratify the Treaty in their parliament are thus in effect endorsing a denial of the most basic civil rights to Irish women. If European governments think that this is good enough for Irish women the same view could spread across Europe.
The campaign can be contacted at:
Repeal the 8th Amendment Campaign, P.O. Box 3441, Dublin 8.
Messages of support are welcome also to a public meeting in the Mansion House, Dublin on April 29th. *
IRELAND / USA Roe v. Wade decision are especially vulnerable to the government-sponsored campaign of restricting abortion. The president of Planned Parenthood pointed out that before Roe over one million abortions were performed in the US each year, and the result was that women died. "Most often the victims were women of color and poor women", he said.
Others also reiterated the pre-Roe horrors of backalley abortions, the tremendous toll on women's lives before abortion was legalized. Still others spoke of
750,000 attend prowhat Roe represented in terms of the culmination of years of organizing and mobilizing efforts by women to demand choice march HISTORY was made in Washington D.C. on April 5, 1992. Hundreds of thousands from around the country converged on the capital to take part in a march in defence of abortion rights, forming one of the largest rallies ever in US history. The event was sponsored by the National care.
Currently the women's movement is facing several specific threats to abortion rights, the greatest one being the possibility that the Supreme Court will overturn the Roe v. Wade decision which legalized abortion. Already, safe and affordable access to abortion has been severely restricted and in many cases it is impossible for women receiving medical care sponsored by the government to find. This includes women in the military, Natithe right to a legal, safe and affordable abortion - and the need to keep the momentum going in order to safeguard those reproductive rights still intact and to win back those that have been taken away.
Many speakers urged rally participants to view this march as a stepping-off point in terms of organizing outreach across the country to protect abortion rights. Some urged support for the the "Freedom of Choice Act" presently before the US Congress. And there was, of course, widespread talk about electing pro-choice candidates to Congress and Senate in the November elections.
Unfortunately there was little clarity
Organization for Women (NOW) and was co-sponsored by more than 150 organizations. SARAH M. SPRINGER