An open letter to the Taoiseach who says my country isn’t ready for abortion

Dear Taoiseach Varadkar,

Over the weekend, you said you didn't believe that this country was ready for safe and legal abortion. You promised a referendum on the eighth amendment, but you stated that you weren't yet sure what voters were going to be asked. You claimed that you honestly didn't know if the Irish public would go "as far" as the Citizens' Assembly's recommendations. The results of that assembly (an assembly that your Fine Gael government set up, Taoiseach) said differently. They showed that the people of Ireland recommend that terminations should be allowed without restrictions for up to twelve weeks gestation. They showed that in particular socio-economic circumstances, the people of Ireland think abortion should be allowed until the 22nd week of pregnancy. They showed that in cases of Fatal Foetal Abnormality where the baby is unlikely to survive, the people of Ireland think abortion should be permitted at any stage. They showed that my country is ready for abortion - and that we've already waited too long. The assumption that the Citizens' Assembly did not accurately represent Ireland may be true, but not for the reasons that we are being told to believe. Where the assembly included appropriate education, respectful discussion, and hard facts, the abortion debate that we are so used to seeing played out on our TV screens is frequently one of misinformation and forced media balance. The Citizens' Assembly proved that half of the people in this country are not against abortion, so why are half of the people on our discussion panels represented as though they are? The assembly saw a vast majority (87 percent, to be exact) vote against retaining the eighth amendment as it currently exists. Who is to say that with that same education, that same discussion, and that same attention to facts, that the vast majority of this entire country wouldn't do the same? You say we are not ready, Taoiseach, but the voices of the thousands of people who have spoken out against these out-dated laws say otherwise. Those who have written columns, blog posts, tweet threads and Facebook posts about the ways their country has failed them are ready. Those who have waived their anonymity to talk about their medical history even though they absolutely should not have to are ready. Those who have travelled for abortion are ready. And so are those of us who might have to travel in the future. Every day, up to 12 women leave this country for an abortion that Ireland fails to provide for them. Every day, unknown numbers of women cannot afford to go. People purchase illegal but safe abortion pills online. People contact charities like the Abortion Support Network to try and fund their procedures. People throw themselves down flights of stairs, drink bleach, and ingest packets of birth control pills because they don't know what else to do. How are we not ready for something, Taoiseach, when we're already living it? On September 30, the sixth annual March for Choice will take to Dublin's streets. Similar marches will happen across the country, with solidarity events planned for other cities around the world. If previous marches are anything to go by, this will not be a small affair. Nor will it be a quiet one. Since you became the head of this country, Taoiseach, over 1,000 women have left Ireland for an abortion. So don't tell us that we're not ready. Yours, Jade Hayden (and a whole lot more of us, too).