Irish Law Passes, Bringing Moderate Change
The Irish Parliament finally passed the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill after months of controversy and several days of contentious debate. The new law will offer legal clarity to the circumstances under which Irish women can get a legal abortion. Those circumstances will remain narrow, though, and continue to force many women to get reproductive health care in neighboring countries, as so many have in the past, reports The Guardian:
According to Irish department of health figures released on Thursday, about 4,000 Irish women travelled to British hospitals and clinics to terminate their pregnancies last year.
There are certainly thousands more women who didn’t have the means to make the costly trip and get the health care that is a fundamental human right. We hope that Irish politicians will continue working to make health services available to them as well.