SPUC Attacks Right To Choose

The recent calls for the closure of the Dublin Well Woman Clinic and Centre are part of a general campaign initiated by the Right to further restrict women!s rights, The Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child, based in Britain, has recently established an offshoot in Ireland, It called an anti-.

abortion demonstration after Christmas where these attacks were made, The people involved in SPUC care not so much about the rights of the unborn child, but with restricting the rights of women to control their own fertility. This was clearly shown in an interview with Loretto Browne (a spokesperson of SPUC)

in the Irish Press when she said, among other things, that she didn!t agree with "artificial" contraception. She doesn't support abortion even if the woman has been raped, SPUC base their opposition to abortion on the right to life of the "unborn child", However, this "concern with life" is not consistent with other views held by members of the organisation, For example, a leading member of SPUC in Britain, the Marchioness of Salisbury, has extensive financial and property interests in Rhodesia and South Africa, where indiscriminate murders of black people are increas— ingly common, This is hardly consistent with their concept of an absolute right to life, What about the life of the unwillingly pregnant woman? Surely thisis more important than the potential life of the foetus, In a country where a single pregnant woman is faced with the threat of losing her job, low social welfare payments, no creche facilities and social ostracism, it is highly hypocritical of these people to talk about !concern for human life! when they ignore the quality of life which Ireland offers to pregnant women and mother s, An estimated 40,000 Irish women have travelled to England for abortions since the passing of the 1967 Abortion Act, In the eyes of the law here they are all criminals, The existence of the pregnancy councelling centres is the first step towards decriminallsing abortion, Any attempt to close them down would be a major setback for all women in the 26 counties, The situatiory for women in the North has a lot in common with women in the South. Although superficially they have more liberal laws, the 1967 act has never been fully extended throughout the 6 counties, For example women who have been raped, women with 13 children and women with medical conditions have been refused abortions, As we have seen groups like SPUC are reactionary in other areas besides abortion. They create an atmosphere where attacks can be made on gains women have won over the past 10 years.

The reactionaries see abortion as the weakest link in the chain of aspects of womens! control of their own fertility. If they are allowed to successfully restrict the already limited ability of Irish worren to have safe abortions, they will quickly move into other areas of fertility control. The first of which will be contraception. This is why defence of the clinics is absolutely vital. JACINTA DEIGNAN