abortion in Ireland

At a time when Amnesty International is considering whether it wishes to be proactively involved in advocating women's right to abortion, especially in rape and incest cases, it is salutory to remember that both N. Ireland and the Republic of Ireland ban abortion completely, even in cases of rape and incest. In theory it is possible for a doctor to perform an abortion if a woman's life is in danger, but the state hasn't legislated on this, so the prevailing view that abortion constitutes malpractice on the part of a doctor may still prevail. Until recently Ireland, i.e. the Republic, also banned making information on abortion available to women; it also reserved the right to stop people travelling to Britain for an abortion, which resulted in the notorious X case, when a young girl who had been raped and made pregnant by a close relation was taken off the ferry. Since then information has been made available and people are left to make the miserable journey across the Irish Sea. As a result, every year Irish women in their thousands travel to Britain for abortions and consequently cannot receive the aftercare and support that is needed. Ireland's rigidity in this is, of course, closely related to the still inescapable influence of the Catholic Church, which also prevented couples getting divorced until 1997 (!). Irish people in the 1990s showed their strong objection to abortion in a referendum. I wonder if the people feel the same in 2006. Perhaps it is time to face up to the fact Irish women are having abortions whether the state likes it or not. Abortion exists in Ireland the same as elsewhere.