Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Irish referendum on abortion enables legislation of reproductive rights
From a Center for Reproductive Rights news release
2018-05-26

This article shared 1016 times since Sat May 26, 2018
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email


05.26.18 — ( GENEVA ) The Center for Reproductive Rights celebrates today's referendum result in favour of repeal of the Irish constitutional prohibition on abortion as a deeply historic moment for women's reproductive health and rights in Ireland and globally.

The Irish people voted by a resounding majority to remove the constitutional prohibition and enable Irish lawmakers to legislate on abortion and bring about long-awaited reforms.

As a result of the referendum, Irish lawmakers can now reform Irish legislation on abortion and bring it into line with that of most other European countries. The result will also enable Ireland's compliance with the rulings of the United Nations Human Rights Committee in the ground-breaking Mellet v. Ireland ( 2016 ) and Whelan v. Ireland ( 2017 ) cases, brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of Amanda Mellet and Siobhan Whelan.

Said Leah Hoctor, Regional Director for Europe at the Center for Reproductive Rights:

"Today's result marks an immensely historic moment for the women of Ireland. Irish laws on abortion have been among the most restrictive in the world and wholly out of step with legislation in almost every other European country. Now the Irish people have affirmed that women must be able to access safe abortion care in their home jurisdiction under the care of their own health professionals."

"The referendum result is also a landmark milestone in the global trajectory towards respect for women's reproductive rights and the eradication of restrictive laws on abortion that harm women's health and violate their human rights."

"Through their compassionate vote in favour of women's access to reproductive health care, the Irish people have provided women across the world with cause for inspiration and hope."

"The immense impact of this result will reverberate globally for years to come. Women living in countries with highly restrictive abortion laws can today draw renewed comfort and encouragement that law reform is possible and that significant change to safeguard women's health and rights can be achieved."

"In its response to the Human Rights Committee in follow-up to the Mellet and Whelan decisions the Irish government repeatedly outlined that constitutional change was a necessary first step in order to enable legislative change. Today's referendum result has cleared the way for meaningful law reform."

About the Center's work in Ireland:

The 8th Amendment of the Irish Constitution was introduced into the Irish Constitution in 1983. It prohibited abortion in Ireland in all circumstances except where a woman's life was at 'real and substantial risk.' As a result, Irish laws on abortion have been among the most restrictive in the world and wholly out of step with legislation in almost every other European country.

In 2013 and 2014 respectively the Center for Reproductive Rights filed cases on behalf of two women in Ireland, Amanda Mellet and Siobh�n Whelan, before the United Nations Human Rights Committee, claiming that as a result of Ireland's prohibition on abortion both women were subjected to multiple violations of their rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a binding international treaty ratified by Ireland.

In its decisions on both cases, the Human Rights Committee held that Ireland had subjected each woman to cruel and inhuman treatment as a result of its legal prohibition on abortion and had violated their rights to privacy and equality before the law. In both decisions, the Committee ruled that Ireland was obliged to provide each woman with compensation and psychological support services and to reform its law on abortion.

Following the decisions, the Irish Government paid compensation to both Ms. Mellet and Ms. Whelan and agreed to cover the costs of any psychological support or counselling services they might access. This was the first time that the Irish state provided compensation to women who had travelled for abortion care that was illegal in Ireland.

The Committee's rulings represented the first unequivocal condemnation by an international legal authority, in response to an individual complaint, of Ireland's prohibition and criminalization of abortion. They were cited in the report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the 8th Amendment as one of three critical reason why constitutional reform on abortion was necessary.


This article shared 1016 times since Sat May 26, 2018
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Thailand parliament passes landmark marriage bill
2024-03-27
On March 27, Thailand's parliament approved a marriage-equality bill by an overwhelmingly large margin—a landmark step that moves one of Asia's most liberal countries closer to legalizing same-sex unions, media ...


Gay News

Brown Elephant Returns To Northalsted
2024-03-26
Brown Elephant's Lake View location is moving to Northalsted and already accepting donations. Howard Brown Health, the largest LGBTQ+ health center in the midwest, operates three Brown Elephant resale shops in the Chicagoland area to help ...


Gay News

An interstate trans healthcare crisis: Illinois prepares for influx of people seeking gender-affirming care
2024-03-26
With hard-won rights, such as access to hormone replacement therapy or permission to use one's chosen pronouns in school, breaking down in states across the country, trans residents of all ages are left with a choice: ...


Gay News

Planned Parenthood of Illinois expands Orland Park health center
2024-03-26
--From a press release - ORLAND PARK, Ill. - Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL) announces the expansion of its existing Orland Park Health Center at 14470 S. LaGrange Rd., Suite 106. The 1,800-square-foot expansion is projected to increase sexual and reproductive ...


Gay News

Wyoming is latest state to ban gender-affirming care for minors
2024-03-24
On March 22, Wyoming became the latest state to prohibit gender-affirming care for minors, The Hill noted. In doing so, it joined 23 other states that passed laws restricting or banning the treatment. Legislators in both ...


Gay News

Family of 2004 murder victim holds event in Lake View; reward announced
2024-03-24
The year 2004, for the family and friends of Lake View resident Kevin Clewer, will forever be marked by tragedy. On March 24 of that year, Clewer, 31, was found in his apartment at 3444 N. Elaine Pl.; he was the ...


Gay News

No charges filed in Nex Benedict fight; campaigns call for Walters' removal
2024-03-22
In Oklahoma, Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler announced that no charges will be filed in connection with the fight that happened the day before transgender, nonbinary high school student Nex Benedict died by suicide, NBC ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Va. marriage bill, AARP, online counseling, Idaho items, late activist
2024-03-21
Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed bills protecting same-sex marriages at a state level, surprising some, WRIC reported. The bills—passed out of both chambers along mostly party lines—will require clerks ...


Gay News

Chicago's LGBTQ+ Advisory Council sets a new course
2024-03-18
Chicago's LGBTQ+ Advisory Council held its first meeting of the calendar year on Feb. 28 at City Hall in the Loop under the leadership of the recently appointed chair Jin-Soo Huh. The LGBTQ+ Advisory Council is ...


Gay News

WORLD Leaked messages, Panama action, author dies at 32, Japan court, out athletes
2024-03-15
Hundreds of messages from an internal chat board for an international group of transgender health professionals were leaked in a report and framed as revealing serious health risks associated with gender-affirming care, including cancer, according to ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Missouri measure, HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, judge, Texas schools
2024-03-15
In Missouri, a newly proposed law could charge teachers and counselors with a felony and require them to register as sex offenders if they're found guilty of supporting transgender students who are socially transitioning, CNN noted. ...


Gay News

College athletes sue NCAA over transgender policies
2024-03-15
Former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines was among a group of college athletes who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on March 14, accusing it of violating their Title IX rights by allowing trans swimmer Lia Thomas ...


Gay News

UK health service to stop routinely prescribing puberty blockers to minors
2024-03-14
NHS (National Health Service) England confirmed that children will no longer routinely be prescribed puberty blockers at gender-identity clinics, the BBC reported. The decision came after a review found there was "not enough evidence" that they ...


Gay News

LGBTQ+ people attacked by mobs in Greece
2024-03-14
Just weeks after a landmark law granted same-sex couples in Greece the right to marry, nearly 200 people dressed in black chased a transgender couple through the town square in Thessaloniki, the country's "second city" and ...


Gay News

One Roof Chicago launches youth-focused workforce development program
2024-03-14
One Roof Chicago (ORC) is set to launch its first training, education and job placement program for LGBTQ+ young adults in late spring. This Community Health Workers and Elder Care program is a part of ORC's ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.