Irish women open up about #abortion ahead of referendum

When posters with the words ‘Licence To Kill’ were put up in her neighbourhood in advance of Ireland’s referendum on abortion, Amy Callahan (pictured, centre) decided to share the story of travelling to Britain to terminate her pregnancy, write Emily G Roe and Conor Humphries in Nenagh.

Callahan, 35, and her partner Connor Upton were told 12 weeks into her pregnancy that the foetus had anencephaly, a rare condition that prevents the normal development of the brain. It meant the baby, who would have been their second child, would most likely die in utero or live for a matter of minutes.

In Ireland, where abortions are permitted only when the mother’s life is in danger, the couple could either wait until their baby’s heart stopped beating or go to Britain for an abortion, as more than 3,000 Irish women do each year.

Callahan and her husband told few people about that trip nearly a year ago.

But with a vote on whether to liberalise Ireland’s abortion regime due on May 25, she and scores of other women are sharing their stories on both sides of the issue on social media, at campaign launches and through media interviews.

Some women who are against the change have talked about how much they valued the short time they had with babies who had little or no chance of survival.

“What the doctor actually said was ‘you can pop to England’, which was horrific,” she said. She carried the baby to full term, instead.

“My baby was born at 32 weeks, then she died. I got to take her home, spend time with her,” she said.

The referendum - which would repeal a 1983 amendment to the constitution - is the first opportunity in 35 years to overhaul one of the world’s strictest abortion regimes in the once deeply Catholic country. A complete ban was lifted only five years ago.

Polls show those in favour of change with a strong lead but one in five are still undecided.

Callahan recalled her grief and exhaustion in the two weeks ahead of their appointment at the clinic in Liverpool.

“It felt like we were abandoned by this country,” Callahan said. “We weren’t looked after here, we weren’t received with compassion at such a difficult time.

The referendum will mark almost a year to the day that Callahan and Upton returned to Dublin on 23 May with the ashes of their daughter, Nico, in their hand luggage.

“The worst thing has already happened to us,” said Callahan. “Whether this referendum passes or not, it’s not the worst thing for us, it’s about the worst thing for the next person and it needs to be changed.”

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