These women are calling on Ireland's new government to repeal its abortion ban
LONDON -- In the Republic of Ireland, a constitutional ban on abortion means that only women whose pregnancies put their lives at risk can have access to safe, legal abortion services.
For other women in Ireland seeking to terminate a pregnancy, the outlook is markedly different, with many women travelling abroad or turning to methods of self-abortion. Since the 8th Amendment went into effect in 1983 -- introducing a ban on abortion -- an estimated 150,000 women have travelled abroad to have access to legal abortion services.
On Thursday, 11 Irish women who have accessed abortion services outside of Ireland have published their portraits online to call on Ireland's newly elected government to call a referendum to repeal the 8th Amendment.
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The #facethe8th project forms part of X-ile Project's existing photo series which launched in December 2015 with an aim to challenge the stigma surrounding abortion, and to create a space for women to discuss their abortion experiences. Now, the project seeks to put pressure on Ireland's government following the election in March.
"X-ile Project calls on the new Irish government to address the urgent need to change the current draconian abortion laws and to call a referendum to repeal the 8th amendment," reads a statement from X-ile Project.
"Our new release of photographs will add to the ever-increasing pressure and demand for politicians to act responsibly on this issue and to help create a more progressive Ireland where women are heard, respected, trusted and valued," the statement continued.
This comes as a UN report -- published Thursday -- found that a woman in Ireland who "was forced to choose between carrying her foetus to term, knowing it would not survive, or seeking an abortion abroad" was "discrimination and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" as a result of Ireland's abortion ban.
The report also stated that Ireland is "obliged" to provide "adequate compensation and psychological treatment" to the woman in question following after she was forced to travel to the UK to have an abortion.
In the report, UN experts called on Ireland's government to amend its law on abortion and -- if necessary -- its constitution, to allow "timely and accessible procedures for pregnancy termination in Ireland."
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Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
