Aac Wind-up Conference
Socialist Republic1983Women's liberationSue Esterson Read the scan at the Encyclopedia of Trotskyism On-Line (PDF, page 6) →Machine-read text, not corrected. Cut from the scan by machine, by the size of the headline type. Where columns were set close together, lines of a neighbouring article can run in, and a headline can be missed so that two articles share a page. For anything you quote, read the scan.
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independently of family pressures. It is all these layers of women who are going to determine how successful the fight for women’s independence is.
The struggles to get the kind of healthcare and contraception women need and the options for divorce and abortion can only be won with the participation of women in all parts of society.
The anti-amendment campaign might have succeeded in stopping the rot had it built links with the women workers and the workers movement, if it had forces who are already in the forefront fighting against repression and austerity: i.e. the anti-imperialist movement, womens movement and the workers movemeht. ation.
The campaign around the right to choose should continue to deepen the awareness already growing by linking up with forces on an all Ireland scale, building internatfonal links with pro-choice layers around the world and continuing with initiatives like the international tribunal.
Feminists were the backbone of the AAC, and point up the basis for rebuilding the womens movement. There is much experience from _ the battles that have been fought and much can be gained from discussion of a strategy in the ’80’s. In the coming months P.D. will be supporting the holding of a conference to do just that. About 130 delegates attended the post-referendum conference of the Anti-Amendment Campaign held on Saturday September 24. The delegates voted to disband the campaign but agreed to maintain a monitoring network in order to ensure that any attempts to intimidate existing services over the next two months will be resisted. There will be regional discussions during the next two months to. decide how and in what direction the forces behind the AAC should organise. This will be followed by a national conference to discuss and implement these decisions.
An open discussion following the conference attracted some 250 people to talk about the way forward. The discussion centred on divorce, contraception rights, and the right to choose.
Sue Esterson OSE | proposal to emphasise ; abortion rights and independent political action to win support in the workers and anti-imperialist movements was not accepted.
The debates at this conference highlight the need for a broad Women’s Conference to discuss the way forward for Irish Women in the ‘80s.