Repealing the 8th means… healthcare that does not discriminate

The eighth amendment affects many aspects of Irish society.

From healthcare to human rights, the law prohibits women in Ireland from making decisions about their own bodies, futures, and lives.  Repealing the 8th means a change for many aspects of society in Ireland.  This is one of them. You can follow the rest of this series here. 

---

Repealing the eighth means healthcare that does not discriminate. Under the current law, women in Ireland who want to have abortions must seek help outside of the country. For many, this means making the journey to the UK or elsewhere to procure a termination. Travelling abroad for an abortion can not just cause a physical and psychological burden - it can also cause a financial one too. The average cost of traveling for an abortion from Ireland, including the procedure itself, can work out at anywhere between €750 and €1,000, not including loss of income or other indirect costs. For example, the cost of the procedure itself in a British Pregnancy Advisory Service clinic (BPAS) is €420. This covers a medical abortion (with pills) under 10 weeks. A medical abortion between 11 and 14 weeks costs €500, as does a surgical abortion under 14 weeks. BPAS also charge an initial consolation fee of €100, however women travelling from Ireland who have already had counselling with some Irish organisations including IFPA and Well Woman can avoid this fee. The clinic offers a discounted price for women travelling from Ireland due to the extra, unavoidable charges they will incur while procuring an abortion. As of last year, women travelling from Northern Ireland have had the costs of their abortions paid by the UK government. Next, consider the cost of flights and accommodation. While a lot of women decide to travel and come home on the same day, many opt to stay the night abroad due to fatigue, fears about post-abortion care, or simply because they have to. At the time of writing, the cheapest return flight from Dublin to London this day next week works out at €41.20. The cheapest return flight the following day is €75.06. If someone was travelling from Dublin to Manchester, the cheapest flight this day next week would be €46.18, while travelling return from Cork to London on the same day would cost €76.28. The cost of hotels, as with flights, varies, but one night in a budget hotel close to any of the BPAS clinics in Finsbury Park, Southwark, or Streatham currently costs between €50 and €80. These costs tend to be considerably higher on weekend days. While many women feel the financial strain of traveling for an abortion, this pressure is even more intense for women from low-income families who cannot afford to travel. Relying on outside clinics to look after women from Ireland not only means that women can't avail of healthcare at home, but it also means that many women are unable to get any healthcare at all. Charities such as the Abortion Support Network do their best to cover the cost of traveling for an abortion, seeking the cheapest possible time and place to travel to, however this still doesn't mean that everybody has the option to go abroad. Speaking on last Friday's Late Late Show, Dr Peter Boylan said that "backstreet abortion" is happening in Ireland today. He said:

"In the last year alone, almost 2,000 women imported illegal abortion pills from online providers. These pills are very safe when used under medical supervision. "However, if taken in the wrong dosage or at the wrong time, they can cause serious and potentially fatal problems such as uterine rupture and haemorrhage. "This means that in effect we now have backstreet abortion here in Ireland."

The eighth amendment doesn't just discriminate financially, it also discriminates by legal status. Women living in direct provision, women who are migrants, and women who don't have Visas face further barriers when trying to procure an abortion in Ireland. While it may be possible for these women to obtain travel documents, it is not always a given that these will be approved before a pregnancy is past the legal time limit for an abortion in the UK (24 weeks). Repealing the eighth would mean providing healthcare for women in Ireland that does not discriminate through gender, class, or status.