If you wish to contact us or become involved or go on our mailing list contact us: choiceireland@gmail.com
SUMMARY:
Guiding Principles
We Are a Feminist Organisation
We See Reproductive Freedom as a Critical Element of Women’s Liberation
We Recognise that Reproductive Freedom is Multi-Faceted and we Seek to Ensure a Woman’s Freedom to Pursue ALL Reproductive Choices
We Will Promote Education to Empower Women to Take Charge of their Fertility
The Right to Bodily Integrity
No Affiliation to Parties Seeking Political Power
Resistance to Hard-Line Anti-Choice Fanatics
Solidarity with Like-Minded Pro-Choice Groups and Feminist Organisations
International Solidarity
What Do We Want?
Free Access to Accurate Information on All Crisis Pregnancy Options
Legislation Regulating Information Provided by Crisis-Pregnancy Centres
Immediate Legislation for the X and C Cases
Proper Sex-Education
Free Access to Multiple Forms of Contraception Including the Morning-After Pill
Free and Legal Abortion on Demand
High-Quality Post-Abortion Care
End to Stigma Surrounding Abortion
Practical Support for Women Seeking Abortion
End to Stigma Surrounding Sexual Health and Contraceptive Needs
Increased Support for Single and Low-Income Parents
Increased Protection for Working Mothers
Free Access to Quality Childcare
End to Stigma Surrounding Single Parenthood
Choice in the Method of Childbirth
Creation of More Feminist Health Centres
FULL TEXT:
Guiding Principles
We are a Feminist Organisation
We proudly declare ourselves to be a feminist organisation. We reject the negative connotations that have been attached to feminism in recent years (mainly by its enemies). We call for all women who share our aims and principles to reassert ownership of the word.
We See Reproductive Freedom as a Critical Element of Women’s Liberation
Closing in on forty years past what could be called the ‘hey-day’ of the ‘women’s liberation’ movement, women’s lives are still defined and constrained by limitations on their reproductive choices which are both enforced by the coercive power of the state and imposed by predominant social paradigms concerning a woman’s ‘appropriate’ role. We find these limitations to be unacceptable. Although we realize that eliminating the current restrictions surrounding reproductive choice is not a panacea – women’s liberation is bound up in much more than reproductive capacity – we see this issue as being of fundamental significance in that larger struggle.
We Recognise that Reproductive Freedom is Multi-Faceted and we Seek to Ensure a Woman’s Freedom to Pursue ALL Reproductive Choices
We believe that it is the fundamental right of every woman to decide for herself whether and when to bear children. Any interference with this decision is unacceptable.
We aim to ensure that all women have the power to make conscious and well-informed choices regarding all aspects of their sexual and reproductive lives and to make such choices without fear of shame, alienation, or economic distress.
We are committed to supporting women in whatever reproductive choice they make.
We will Promote Education to Empower Women to take Charge of their Fertility
It is inherent to the concept of freedom of choice that not only is the full range of choices available to women, but women are fully informed about those choices. We believe that knowledge is power. As such, we will promote education of women about their health, contraceptive and reproductive options.
We support a woman’s choice to say ‘no’. The right to reproductive choice begins with the right to give or deny consent to sexual activity. Women must be empowered to make this decision freely and without undue pressure. Church-supported ‘abstinence campaigns’ are inadequate for this purpose because they do not locate the issue in its proper context – a woman’s right to control her own body.
Men must also be educated to understand the reasons why a woman may withhold consent and above all to respect that decision – at whatever stage, in whatever kind of relationship it occurs.
The Right to Bodily Integrity
The new ‘foetal rights’ movement limits the freedom of not only pregnant women but increasingly even of potentially-pregnant women of childbearing age. There are alarming reports from other countries of women being prosecuted for failing to meet particular behavioural standards during pregnancy. Women who have already given birth are also at risk from the threat to bodily integrity: in Ireland last year a woman’s right to refuse medical treatment was denied on the basis of her status as a mother.
This is a particular concern in view of the imminent Constitutional referendum to prioritise the ‘best interests of the child’. It is imperative that such an amendment does not provide a vehicle by which women’s bodies can be further subjugated to a reactionary agenda.
No Affiliation to Parties Seeking Political Power
Choice Ireland is non-party political and will remain that way. We will not risk being co-opted or having our principles compromised for the sake of political power or electoral gain. We also want to gain the widest possible support from the pro-choice left and this can only be achieved through complete independence.
Individual members may retain their own personal party affiliation. However, we are determined to ensure that no one political organisation takes de facto control of the group.
Resistance to Hard-Line Anti-Choice Fanatics
The anti-choice movement as pushed and funded in Irish society is primarily a religious one. It goes hand-in-hand with an anti-contraceptive, anti-sex education homophobic position. Many people holding this inflexible viewpoint have positions of power and influence over the young and the vulnerable through charitable, educational and governmental institutions eg. homeless shelters, schools, hospitals and social services. They can use their positions (and resources) to promote an anti-contraception, anti-choice agenda, while pro-choice workers are silent or silenced.
We call for people to recognise this destructive hard-line influence of the catholic church and to see that they have the right to resist it. We will support self-organisation of workers around the issue of choice eg. Doctors and Social Workers for Choice.
Solidarity with Like-minded Pro-choice Groups and Feminist Organisations
We are not seeking to reinvent the wheel. Our aim is to complement and add to the work already being done by organisations with similar or compatible goals. We will work with them, ask for their support and offer ours in return. This includes supporting organisations seeking the extension of the 1967 Abortion Act to the North of Ireland.
International Solidarity
Our primary focus at this time is on women in Ireland. Nevertheless we remain interested in the larger structures of power facilitating the continuing oppression of women globally. In particular we express solidarity with women of the Global South who pay a unique price for the detrimental effects of capitalist and neo-liberal economic policies implemented to position certain places in the world beneath others. We seek to better inform ourselves about intersections of oppression, to increase our understanding of the way ‘gender’ functions in our societies, and to realise the possibility for a non-exploitative global community founded on mutual respect.
What do we Want?
Free Access to Accurate Information on all Crisis Pregnancy Options
Women who find themselves in a crisis pregnancy situation have an absolute right to know exactly what options are available to them, and to hear the full facts about each option, presented in an unbiased and non-judgmental way. This right must not depend upon a woman’s age, income, area of residence, ability to travel, marital status, immigration status, sexual orientation or any other qualification.
Legislation Regulating Information Provided by Crisis Pregnancy Centres
At present, regulations exist for those crisis pregnancy centres that are funded by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency. However, anybody who wishes to set themselves up as an independent ‘crisis pregnancy centre’ is free to do so without regulation. The Minister for Health, Mary Harney, has explicitly ruled out any change to this position.
As a consequence, fanatical anti-abortionists have been able to set up ‘rogue agencies’ such as the one operating at 50 Upper Dorset Street, Dublin 1, which advertise themselves under misleading names such as ‘A Choice For Women’ and ‘British Alternatives’ in order to attract women seeking abortions. These women are then subjected to false and psychologically traumatising misinformation about the abortion procedure.
Legislation is clearly needed to ensure that all crisis pregnancy centres operate within an agreed acceptable framework, with rogue agencies to be shut down and their operators subject to prosecution.
Immediate Legislation for the X and C Cases
It is now 15 years since the Supreme Court ruled that abortion is legal in the case of a threat to a woman’s life (including by suicide) and ten years since the subsequent C case. The Government has refused to put these decisions on a firm statutory footing. It should do so without delay. Legislation also needs to be put in place to prevent the occurrence of another case like Miss D’s.
Proper Sex-Education
Young people have the right to be properly informed about the workings of their own bodies. Growing up in a sex-obsessed society, with the pressures of the media, they must have independent open forums to discuss and learn about sexuality, sexual health, contraception and also boundaries and consent. Sex education should not just discuss heterosexual relations. Sex education must be brought beyond the mechanical and into the emotional. It is in their first forays into sexual experience that young people may become the victims of the sexual power imbalances inherent in our society. Young people must be empowered to make their own choices regarding their health and reproductive freedom. It is not enough to know how a condom works, you also need to know how to control sexual situations enough to be able to insist on using one.
Free Access to All Forms of Contraception Including the Morning-After Pill
True reproductive choice depends upon a woman’s ability to easily access whatever method of contraception (if any) she prefers. This is not only her right but is also an essential factor in minimising the numbers of women seeking abortion. We are calling for all contraceptives and related services, including STI screening and smear tests, to be available free at the point of delivery. Because of the critical timeframe involved we believe that pharmacists must be allowed to dispense emergency contraception, which should also be free on demand. We support the regular distribution of condoms in schools, colleges and health centres.
To lessen the burden on providers, we also call for the government to reduce VAT on all contraceptives to the legal minimum. As a broader aim we would seek a change in European law to add reproductive goods and services to the ‘VAT exempt’ category.
Free and Legal Abortion on Demand
Women must not be forced to seek anyone’s permission or to demonstrate that they have a particular reason for seeking an abortion. This right must not depend on a woman’s age, income, area of residence, ability to travel, marital status, immigration status or any other qualification. Abortion must be freely available and equally accessible to all women who seek it.
High-Quality Post-Abortion Care
At present the stigma on abortion means that women who make this choice have extremely limited options on where to go if they require post-abortion counselling or medical care. It is unacceptable that women should have to rely upon access to a small number of pro-choice agencies (non-existent in many parts of the country) or if they are lucky, a sympathetic doctor or counsellor in their own area. We are calling for the expansion of such services throughout the country, and for increased training for GPs and psychological professionals to provide a high standard of non-judgmental post-abortion care.
End to Stigma Surrounding Abortion
Every year more than 6,000 Irish women travel abroad to have an abortion. They are forced to do this in secrecy, with minimal support, inventing excuses for their families, friends, employers and colleagues. Many Irish women who have abortions describe the stigma around abortion as causing far more trauma than the abortion itself.
A woman who chooses to terminate a pregnancy that she is unprepared to continue is not being irresponsible, selfish or ‘taking the easy way out’. The choice to abort a foetus is a difficult personal decision and can only be made by a woman herself – away from the influence of profiteers and crusaders alike.
Practical Support for Women Seeking Abortion
The legal regime and the stigma of abortion in Ireland mean that women who want to make this choice have few places to turn for assistance and support. We intend to help fill this void.
End to Stigma Surrounding Sexual Health and Contraceptive Needs
Many young people in particular delay or avoid obtaining contraception or related services because they are embarrassed. It is time that we stopped treating sex as a deep or shameful secret.
Increased Support for Single and Low-Income Parents
The cost of childrearing acts as a very effective constraint on women’s reproductive decisions. This is a burden that falls disproportionately on single and low-income parents. There can be no real ‘right to choose’ when some women who want to have children are financially unable to do so – nor is it acceptable that women should suffer poverty as a result of making this choice.
Increased Protection for Working Mothers
Many women who are employed or seeking work will find their reproductive choices limited. Difficulties range from outright discrimination, to insufficient maternity leave, to employers’ refusal to accommodate flexible working hours and breastfeeding breaks. We call for stringent, strictly enforced statutory protections to ensure that working women are not prevented from exercising their right to have children, or penalised for doing so.
Free Access to Quality Childcare
As a result of the enormous cost of childcare in Ireland, many women either cannot exercise their choice to have children or suffer a huge financial burden if they do. This expense also limits women’s options in terms of education and employment. All options concerning publicly-funded childcare should be immediately investigated.
Additionally, women who wish to remain at home to care for young children should be able to do so. It is illogical that a person can earn income and pension entitlements for looking after someone else’s children but not for looking after their own.
End to Stigma Surrounding Single Parenthood
We emphatically reject the notion that sex and reproduction should take place only inside the nuclear family structure. The nuclear family has its origins in the development of private property and class division; today, this structure is reinforced by a religion that places control of women’s bodies at the centre of its teachings. We support the right of both men and women to raise children alone or in a non-traditional family structure.
Choice in the Method of Childbirth
The traditional practice of midwifery has declined in large part due to a concerted effort by (mostly male) doctors to establish a monopoly over care. We support women’s choice to give birth at home, in hospital or in whichever setting she deems appropriate.
Creation of More Feminist Health Centres
Women’s healthcare is not limited to reproductive concerns. The ‘care’ we receive in professionalised facilities often reflects the biases of those delivering it. We demand the establishment of more feminist health centres. This will give women throughout the country the option of obtaining high quality, genuinely woman-centred healthcare.
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