Number of Irish women seeking abortion in Britain declines for the tenth consecutive year. 

British health authorities have released their statistics for abortions over the last year and for the tenth consecutive year the number of women with Irish addresses has declined. The figures are back to where they were about 30 years ago.  Some people, like the IFPA, will like to claim credit for this, people are using contraception they say (yet our birth rate is at a 118 year high) so obviously something is off in their reasoning. But I suppose when your raison d'être is abortion and contraception you have to come out with some spin. They will also tell you that fewer and fewer Irish women give Irish addresses because of a variety of reasons. Again no evidence to support this, and indeed it calls into question the method the British use to compile their statistics. Highly original. 
Anyway this is good news. 
One of the main arguments for introducing abortion into Ireland is that Irish women will only go to Britain anyway. Not much of an argument but now that fewer Irish women feel the need to go to Britain does this mean we will hear less of that argument? One final note. Just because fewer women feel the need to have an abortion does not mean that we do not try to help them, change our culture and society to one that values mothers and their babies. 

 PLC welcomes fall in abortion rates for tenth consecutive year.   While abortion rates fall, rate of women regretting abortions rise

29th May 2012

The Pro Life Campaign has welcomed the latest Irish abortion figures released today by the British Department of Health,* which show that the number of Irish women travelling to Britain for abortions has decreased for the tenth consecutive year.

In 2011, 4,149 Irish women travelled to Britain for abortions, down from 4,402 in 2010 and 4,422 in 2009.  The 2011 figures show a marked decrease over previous years.  2011 is the tenth consecutive year that Irish abortions have declined and represents a 38% decline since the high of 6,673 Irish abortions in 2001.

The release of these figures follows the recent report ** from the HSE/Crisis Pregnancy Programme showing an increase in the number of women expressing abortion regret.  In that study, 44 per cent of women expressed varying degrees of regret about their abortions up from 33 per cent in a similar HSE study in 2003.

In a statement welcoming the continuing reduction in the number of Irish women travelling to Britain for abortion, Cora Sherlock of the Pro Life Campaign said:

“While it is too early to draw firm conclusions, the fact that the abortion figures are decreasing while the number of women expressing regret after abortion is increasing, shows the need for a much closer examination of women’s experiences of abortion, including abortion regret."

She said: “There has been a refusal on the part of those campaigning for abortion in Ireland to take on board the research indicating the negative consequences of abortion for women. This does a tremendous disservice to women. The claims by some groups that the reduced figures can be explained by the fact that women are travelling to other countries is not backed by the evidence."

 *Summary Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2011 (29/05/12)
 ** Irish Contraception and Crisis Pregnancy Study 2010 (ICCP 2010), published in May 2012 (HSE/CPP 

Ignoring abortion regret. 

If you frequent discussion boards about abortion you will, from time to time, see people disusing abortion regret. Now those who are content with having liberal abortion laws and a liberal abortion culture blame conservative, Catholic guilt culture and so on. If only people weren't so judgmental. I've seen people write things like women who have regrets over their abortions should just "suck it up" "get over it" and so on.
A study released by the HSE recently reveled that 44% of women who have had an abortion regret the experience. That is an enormous amount and begs the question,  are women who regret their abortions being ignored? It also, and maybe more importantly, begs the question, what is being done to help women who have regrets?
There is help out there though. Women who have been through the experience are there to help others. Women Hurt is an organization where women who have had abortions and regret them reach out to other women who have regrets to offer hope and healing. They want to tell those contemplating having an abortion that there is another side. Women Hurt have their own website, that can be accessed here, womenhurt.ie
Here is a statement by the Pro Life Campaign on the findings with further analysis.

Study showing regret after abortion must be considered by the Minister For Health says Pro Life Campaign

15th May 2012

A comprehensive study showing that 44 per cent of women expressed varying degrees of regret about their abortions “must be urgently considered by the Minister for Health”, the Pro Life Campaign (PLC) has said.
They were responding to the Irish Contraception and Crisis Pregnancy Study 2010 (ICCP 2010), produced by the HSE's Crisis Pregnancy Programme (CPP).
The study showed that 31pc of women who had abortion experienced "some regrets", with 13pc reporting that they experienced “a lot of regrets”. This represents an increase from 2003, when 22pc reported experiencing some regret, with 11pc saying they had a lot of regrets.
Spokesperson for the PLC, Dr Ruth Cullen, said the figures showed that the abortion debate “needed to make room for the voices of the increasing number of women who regret their abortion”.
She said: "While there has been considerable media focus on the stories of women who wished to see abortion legal in Ireland, the same cannot be said for the stories of women who regret their abortions. This has to change.
She said: “Even organisations like the National Women's Council of Ireland, which are supposed to represent all women, dismiss organisations that seek to express the pain of women hurt by abortion.
Dr Cullen also said that Minister James Reilly needs to take into account the experiences of women who regretted their abortion and ensure that counselling services also acknowledge this reality.
She expressed surprise that the CPP had not conducted research into the mental health impact of abortion, given the fact that there were now a number of studies showing that abortion presented a considerable risk to the mental health of women.
Dr. Cullen said: “A number of peer reviewed studies have now shown that women who have abortions are up to 30pc more likely to experience subsequent mental health problems. This is even after those studies controlled for women with pre-existing mental health conditions.
“One might have expected a comprehensive study on crisis pregnancy to have examined this area.”
Dr Cullen also noted that the study's findings on attitudes to abortion were compromised by the question asked.
According to the survey, 45 per cent of adults believed abortion should be permissible in all circumstances, down from over 50 per cent in a similar study in 2003. And 44 per cent said it should be available under certain circumstances, up from 39 per cent in 2003.
However, Dr Cullen said, the survey's question relating to abortion when there is a risk to the woman's life “failed to make the distinction between medical interventions in pregnancy to save the mother's life and induced abortion, the sole aim of which is to end the life of the baby.
She said that this shortcoming in the research made the findings on attitudes to abortion “effectively irrelevant”.

RTÉ, biased? 

You need a license to if you want to own a dog, you need one if you want to own a gun, you need one before you can drive a car. Presumably this is because in each case a certain amount of care and responsibility is needed. Dogs can savage people so someone needs to be responsible for them. Even if there is little chance of that then Rex needs to be cared for, you can't just let him roam around trying to care for himself. It's more obvious when it comes to guns, they are lethal weapons. Not just anyone can be allowed on our roads, you need to be able to drive, know the rules and abide by them. If you don't then the potential for doing great harm is great.
This makes the law over having to own a television license even more curious. What is it about RTÉ that is so lethal that watching it requires us to own a license? If you want to watch television in Ireland you need to pay €160 a year to RTÉ, the national broadcaster in what is known as a television license. This supplements their advertizing revenue. Now, with this huge income relative to the size of their market what have they produced in recent years that is worth speaking of?
I couldn't think of anything either. Even current affairs which has often been cited as something they are proud of has been shown up recently as being rotten. The Fr. Kevin Reynolds case still hasn't been sorted.
There is no doubt in my mind that there is real bias in RTÉ when it comes to the issue of abortion. Recent events have only shown this to be the case. The Late Late show of a couple of weeks past is one blatant example.
Now people always claim media bias, especially when that bias is against them but in case anyone is ready to accuse me of making this up I want to draw your attention to a campaign that recently brought the issue to the nation. There was a full page add in the Irish Independent today drawing attention to RTÉ's bias and outlining concrete examples. There is a website associated with the add, hearbothsides.org It's very good, I'd recomend that you check it out.

Chen Guangcheng escapes house arrest in China.

Human rights activist Chen Guangcheng escaped house arrest in China. This is a major international news story but you'll only hear/read about it if you ignore the navel gazing incestuous Irish media. As Reggie Littlejohn, the primary advocate for Chen, was speaking in Ireland plans were already afoot for him to escape captivity.

The photo of Chen is taken from the Daily Telegraph story on his escape.

Some comments from the Pro Life Campaign on Reggie Littlejohn's visit to Ireland and Chen's escape. 

Human rights activist Chen Guangcheng escapes house arrest in China

 

1st May 2012

Last Tuesday Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers and internationally recognised expert on China's One Child Policy was in Ireland highlighting human rights abuses against women in China and the plight of blind human rights activist Chen Guangcheng, a campaigner against forced abortion and other abuses that arise from the Chinese One Child Policy.
Ms Littlejohn briefed members of the Oireachtas and addressed a public meeting hosted by the Pro Life Campaign in the Gresham Hotel, Dublin.
Women’s Rights Without Frontiers is a non-partisan, international coalition to oppose forced abortion, sterilisation and human trafficking in China and Ms. Littlejohn is an internationally recognised expert on China’s One Child Policy and the problems it has caused.
The One Child Policy in implemented through, moral, financial and sometimes physical abuse with cases of heavily women being held down as their baby was aborted. This policy combined with a cultural preference for boys over girls has led to what’s become known as “gendercide,” the deliberate targeting of baby girls for abortion or even infanticide. It is estimated that over 100 Million baby girls have been aborted in China alone for the simple reason that they were girls. This has led to a skewed sex ratio in China where there are 113 boys born for every 100 girls. The ratio in Ireland of 106 boys to 100 girls is the figure demographers consider normal.

Reggie Littlejohn and supporters of Stop Gendercide Now outside the Chinese Embassy in Dublin on 25th April

 Ms. Littlejohn has highlighted for some years the case of Chinese lawyer and human rights advocate Chen Guangcheng who was put under house arrest in 2005 as punishment for campaigning against the human rights abuses endured by Chinese women as a result of the One Child Policy. Even though he was officially released from prison he was kept in detention and denied treatment despite suffering a serious illness.

On Wednesday Ms. Littlejohn (who has been denied entry into China because of her advocacy for Chen and the women he has represented) led an awareness event for Chen’s case outside the Chinese Embassy in Dublin. Chen, who’s been blind from an early age, wears sunglasses all the time and as part of the campaign to highlight his case Ms. Littlejohn and other activists donned sunglasses in solidarity.
On Friday, it was announced that Cheng has escaped captivity and he is reported as being in hiding in the United States Embassy in Beijing. This news was an international sensation. While Reggie Littlejohn has welcomed the news of his escape she has also highlighted the fact that he is not yet out of danger and that he, his family, including his wife and daughter (who are still under observation in the family home), remain in danger. She has also called on the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, who is visiting China from Beijing to raise his case.
For more information on Reggie and her work and to sign a petition calling on the Chinese government to release Chen Guangcheng, visit Women’s Rights Without Frontiers website.