Can I be Pro-Life and Pro-Choice?

Ireland's Abortion Referendum was in 1992 -I was 14

Actually, there were three referendums held simultaneously on November 25, 1992. Each one referred to a proposed amendment of the constitution. Correct me if I’m wrong, but according to my understanding of the literature, it could be read that each referendum related to a specific abortion issue? The 12th Amendment related to the issue of suicide, the 13th Amendment on the issue of travel, and the 14th Amendment concerned the access to information.

The voting on November 25^th 1992 decided that women could undergo an abortion procedure elsewhere. The voting also demonstrated (in the proposed 12th Amendment) a direct link between abortion and suicide. The very nature of the amendment speaks volumes for the health issues surrounding unwanted pregnancy. Furthermore, it was voted that women were now permitted to learn about abortion procedures albeit from literature distributed by other countries (as outlined in the 14th Amendment).

The referendums served, in my opinion, not just to sweep abortion under the rug – but collectively heave and throw abortion out of the country.  Consequently, there is no official record held in Ireland of unwanted pregnancies. It remains, to my understanding, another unmarked grave.

Another brick in the grave

Pushing abortion out of the country raises the horrible question: What happens to the remains of Irelands unborn babies? I vote we take responsibility for our unborn, and give them the dignity of their lifetime - certified - regardless of its length. To me this is a Pro-Life position, because death is a part of life, and death can be dealt with in a way that is ethical and kind. The way it is now, if we do not include Pro-Choice in our constitution abortion continues to happen “elsewhere”. Is this not digging more holes? It has to stop. We can't just keep doing this, generation after generation, a new version of the same thing - a complete lack of human rights. I say end the unmarked graves, let people choose, and support their choices in a way that's open and human.

So, Can I be Pro-Life and Pro-Choice?

I've never had the opportunity to vote on the abortion issues in this country. In '92  I was 14 and I had just started to go into town with friends on Saturdays. I remember a very strong anti-abortion campaign that used graphic images to bring home its message. I had all the literature, postcards and everything up on my walls. I even had a silver pin, of little feet at 12 weeks of pregnancy. I wore it on my uniform up and down to the convent. I believed I was on the right side, unborn babies had the right to a voice after all, and I was going to stand up for that voice.

I still stand for that voice, but I equally stand for the voice of the parents who (for reasons that are none of my business) decide to undergo an abortion procedure. Community health is more important to our society, than the value we pin on ourselves of our own personal judgment. Some things just can't be about right and wrong, they have to be about what's grey and in the half-light, but more importantly, what keeps people healthy and exercise their rights. That to me is a good way forward in our constitution. What's the alternative? A new door, and another unmarked grave suspended in the void?

I'm Pro-Life. I'm Pro-Choice. 

At the moment I'm asking myself: Can I be Pro-Life and Pro-Choice?

I’m Pro-life: I stand for the life of the unborn, however brief it is – that it is given an ethical and dignified passage through life. I'm Pro-Choice: I stand for those who demand abortion, even if I struggle to understand why (The best position I can take here is – it’s none of my business). 

I want to see a Referendum on Abortion in Ireland so that I - now  an adult -  can vote. My opinion on abortion has matured, become more complexed and I want to voice my concerns. It's our democratic right to choose they way we live and run our country. We have the right to call for a referendum on abortion; and the sooner its called, the sooner we can rid this country of the shadow and shame of unmarked graves,  darkness and fear.