Wednesday 20 August 2014

Ireland, I Despair!

First I must apologise if this article comes across as a rant, but the events of the past week have left me in such despair I couldn't stop myself. Ireland has made so much progress in the last 25 years and a conservative minority are determined to hold it back. During the past week they had two victories.

First came the decision from the BAI (Broadcasting Authority of Ireland) to uphold a complaint from the Family and Media Association (FMA), an extremely conservative Catholic organisation. The complaint was that a discussion on the Derek Mooney show on RTE radio about same sex marriage had not been balanced. The discussion was about the day being the anniversary of the first civil partnerships in Ireland and involved someone who had got a civil partnership on the first day they were legal. Tiernan Brady of GLEN (Gay and Lesbian Equality Network) was also on the show. Derek Mooney is also gay, so there were three gay men on the show, talking about a significant milestone in the history of LGBT rights in Ireland. It was in this context that they discussed the upcoming referendum on same-sex marriage.

Of course, in relation to referendums, RTE is supposed to be completely balanced and impartial so as not to influence the vote in any way. Although try telling that to RTE when there was a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty or the referendum on the Austerity Treaty, when RTE clearly favoured the government position.

The complaint here was made though that there was no opposing views voiced in this incident, that Derek Mooney should have balanced the views of his guests. What the BAI and the FMA are basically saying is that Mooney should have been obliged to have an anti-equality bigot on his show to say why Mooney does not deserve equality.
But then what next? Are we going to say that a black presenter must have Aine NiChonaill, the notorious racist, on their show? Or if a Jewish person were presenting the show, they must have a Nazi on it? That's ridiculous, and downright offensive. And nobody would say that, but for some reason, when it comes to LGBT people, and their rights, suddenly they must be balanced with extreme bigots.
And it just follows on from the ridiculous case where RTE paid 'compensation' to John Waters, the bigot and 'columnist' and the Iona Institute after Rory O'Neill aka Miss Panti Bliss, called them homophobes on TV.

The conservative, predominantly Catholic right are running scared though. Poll after poll in recent years has shown a majority of people support same-sex marriage rights as well as a womens right to choose, the other great fear of conservatives. And they are fighting back, trying to shut down debate and discussion as they know they are losing the propaganda war.

But the polls bring me on to the second, horrible news item of the week. I thought after the case of Savita Halapannavar in 2012, I could never be surprised by the abortion issue in Ireland anymore. But when it comes to abortion, or womens rights in general, Ireland always has the capacity to shock.

At the weekend, the story of a young woman was revealed. She was newly arrived in Ireland in April, most likely an asylum seeker, a rape survivor, and 8 weeks pregnant. She asked for an abortion which was denied her.
Being forced to continue the pregnancy she attempted suicide at 16 weeks. She then went to a GP in July who referred her to a hospital where she was assessed to see if she was eligible for an abortion under the Protection of Life During Pregnancy (PLDP) Act. Due to her attempted suicide and mental state, she should have been eligible under the law, but she was denied the abortion. She then went on hunger and thirst strike at which point the HSE got a High Court order allowing her to be force fed. In the court, the young woman, and the foetus had separate legal representation. Yes, a foetus had its own lawyer, paid for by the state, ergo, by us, the taxpayers. She was then deceived into ending her hunger strike and then persuaded or more likely coerced into having a caesarean section to deliver the foetus prematurely after 24 weeks of pregnancy.

What is most shocking and horrifying, and I did feel sick when first reading about the case, is that this women endured physical and mental torture at the hands of the state. A woman who was already incredibly vulnerable, she had just survived a rape, she was in a new country, with not much English. And who was so traumatised by the pregnancy that she attempted suicide, and later went on hunger strike.

At no point during this case, was the womans life or health considered, or at least considered first. The foetus came first, when the woman was force fed, it was to keep the foetus alive until it became viable for a C-section to happen. The poor woman had no bodily autonomy during this pregnancy, but particularly after she came into the remit of the HSE when she was referred to the hospital.

When pro-choice activists warned last year that the PLDP Bill did not go far enough and that it would create problems and confusion, we were dismissed by the government who said the legislation went as far as necessary and that it would protect women. And while this young woman might not have died, she has been left traumatised for life. She suffered treatment at the hands of the state that no one should have to face.

And when I say state, this case clearly highlights the interconnectedness of the ruling class running the state. The womans suffering resulted from collaboration between politicians and the church who continue to criminalise abortion, healthcare providers who deny abortion services, and the judiciary who back them up.

In the same way the BAI case showed the collaboration between those at the top of the Irish media, the regulatory bodies and the legal professions.

All working together to preserve the status quo, an Ireland in which women have no rights or bodily integrity while pregnant. An Ireland in which LGBT people are only tolerated as long as they don't talk about it or demand too much equality. Too much equality? I didn't think that was possible, but clearly it is a problem that the likes of the FMA and Iona Institute have identified.

I hope now, the next year will see a reassertion of progress and moves toward equality. The referendum on same-sex marriage takes place in the Spring. I am determined that the silent majority in this country who support equality will no longer be silenced by a vocal and increasingly shrill minority who would deny such equality.

Hopefully there will also be a referendum on repealing the 8th Amendment as that has to be the first step in decriminalising abortion in Ireland and giving women the right to choose. The government would love to just ignore the issue and hope it goes away again, and it is pro-choice activists duty now to ensure that the issue stays alive and that a referendum is very much kept on the agenda.

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