Dear Enda Kenny,
I can only imagine the amount of abusive letters flooding your post box or nasty comments spitting your name all over the internet. I wonder why. This is not what this letter is about though. Anybody could go on for days trying to guilt trip a repeal of the 8th amendment out of you through those abusive or nasty comments but I won’t. This is about the people of Ireland and what we deserve. We deserve a repeal of the 8th amendment
We gave the homosexuals a chance. We made history that day and we can do it again. We can make Ireland a happier place to live in if you just give us a chance. A chance to have a right for our own body and our own decisions. Why should we let something set in stone years ago tell us what we should or should not do with our own bodies? How can that be deemed fair in any way? These are our human rights, our bodies and we should be entitled to a choice in what happens to them.
Having the 8th amendment puts the women of your country in danger. Ten women every day are flying out to seek abortions for various reasons but returning to this country without having access to basic healthcare for abortion related side effects is troubling. Also, often reasons for abortion can be financial issues. Having to travel to another country to pay for such a procedure is not always possible, often resulting in homelessness and failure to financially care for this newborn baby. I am sure you can imagine that our streets are no place for anybody let alone a newborn baby. What will this keep doing for our population?
Just a single mention of this issue among five girls brings about so many different powerful reasons why we should repeal this amendment. We don’t stop other people from choosing their own future be it as a priest or a Muslim so why should the women of Ireland be stopped from having a choice regarding their own future? Why should any person, religion or law have a power over another person’s body? These are questions raised among one small group of friends. How many other groups are out there discussing these same issues yet not having a say over anything?
We have some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the EU, why? How come other countries have a right to their own bodies but we don’t? Do we not matter as well?
I in no way support the killing of babies or anyone for that matter but this is different. I could go heavily in to the heated debate of whether or not they are seen as “babies” in that time frame but that is a different matter. The matter of concern here is that say if a 12 year old girl is raped and falls pregnant, how is it fair to put her through nine months of pain and a lifetime of constant reminder? If a young woman is unable to carry her child which could result in her death, how is it fair to choose the baby’s life over hers? How does she not have a say in the matter here in Ireland? Letting doctors have a choice over whether to allow the termination or not is just as bad as the 8th amendment is to begin with. Why should any doctor have a say over my body? Just because they have learned about people’s bodies for 8 years? Well I have lived with mine for 22. I deserve a say.
You’ve seen the TD’s supporting this cause. It is only a matter of time before this cannot be ignored anymore. It is understood that you question whether or not this referendum would pass but let there be the option. Let it be a fair choice whether we win or lose and let it be a choice that is made in the modern era, not by something written donkeys years ago. Be a Taoiseach that Ireland is proud to have and boasts to the world that you were the one that made the difference.
Help us get a referendum, help us make history again, help us change Ireland for the better.
Yours sincerely,
Pro- choice
