Choice Ireland

Choice Ireland has written to all the Irish political parties to ask under what circumstances, if any, they would allow legal abortion in Ireland. We will post the replies here as we receive them.

ALLIANCE: "The party's current position is that it is a matter of conscience, therefore individual MLAs are free to take their own stance.

At a meeting organised by Labour youth in the Central Hotel in Dublin on January 27th 2007 a group of activists took part in a workshop on direct action campaigning. From this workshop a diverse group of people arranged to continue meeting with the specific goal of investigating rogue crisis pregnancy agencies. Over the following weeks the group met in Seomra Spraoi and planned an undercover investigation to expose two of these agencies operating in Dublin.

If you want to get involved in Choice Ireland you can contact us to get details of our meetings at choiceireland@gmail.com or just come along to one of our events.

For media enquiries contact 086 3302419

If you need information on contraception, crisis pregnancy or abortion check out our crisis pregnancy information page.

There are lots of ways that you can get involved in pro choice campaigning.

- You can get involved with a campaign group like Choice Ireland. We meet in Dublins city centre every second Thursday. Email choiceireland@gmail.com for details

- Talk about the issue to friends. One of the biggest problems faced by the pro-choice movement is that crisis - pregnancy and abortion are topics that are rarely discussed honestly and openly. The stigma attatched to these subjects can be reduced through open conversation.

The Dublin Well Woman Clinic and the Irish Family Planning Association are two organisations that may be able to help after you have an abortion. Both organisations provide support and counselling after an abortion and post abortion medical check-ups. You will probably need to make an appointment.

Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA)
Centres located in Cork, Dublin, Galway and Limerick.
Phone: 1850 495051
Website: http://www.ifpa.ie

Dublin Well Woman Clinic
Phone: 01 8728051 (Lower Liffey Street)
Phone: 01 6609860 (Ballsbridge)
Phone: 01 8484511 (Coolock)

Abortion is legal in France up until the 12th week of pregnancy (14th week after your last period) and is practiced using both surgical and medical techniques.
Medical:
• Limited to those 5 weeks (7 weeks since period) pregnant or less
• Carried out in three steps
• First appointment where you are given the 1st medication which causes the embryonic sac to detach
• 36-48 hours later you are given a medication to induce muscle contractions to expel the contents of your uterus
• 36 to 48 hours later you must return to ensure that the procedure is complete

Abortion is legal in the Netherlands at any point from conception to viability. In practice this means that abortions are carried out up until 24 weeks of gestation. Aer lingus fly from Dublin and Cork to Amsterdam.

Abortion clinics:

Rotterdam, Maastricht, Utrecht, Leiden, Den Haag
CASA phone: 088 – 888 4444
Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Groningen, Arnhem
STISAN

Women on Waves
Adressen van Abortusklinieken in Nederland
Alkmaar
Stimezo Alkmaar
Magdalenenstraat 28
1811 JR Alkmaar
Telefoon: 072-5126812
E-mail: stimezo-alkmaar@xs4all.nl
Website: www.abortusinfo.nl

Amsterdam

Due to the introduction of the euro and the availability of cheap flights to mainland Europe many Irish women are travelling to Brussels and Amsterdam. Below is information about clinics in the Netherlands and Belguim. This information is taken from the Women on Waves website.
Ryanair fly to Brussels from Shannon and Dublin and Aer Lingus operate from Dublin to Brussels.

Clinics in Belguim are:
Fédération Laïque de Centres de Planning Familial (FLCPF )
44 Rue Jean Deraeck

Brussels
1150 Belgium
Tel: +32(2) 502 82 03
Fax: +32(2) 502 56 13
www.planf.be

The majority of Irish women seeking a termination choose to travel to the UK. The UK has liberal abortion laws allowing abortion up to 24 weeks two doctors must decide that the risk to a woman’s physical or mental health or the risk to her child(ren)’s physical or mental health will be greater if she continues with the pregnancy than if she ends it. In practice in most clinics this means that you will see one doctor who once you discuss your reasons for seeking a termination will sign a form and then your notes will be reviewed by a second doctor.

This website has been set up by pro-choice activists to provide Irish women information about abortion services in the UK and Europe. Abortion is illegal in Ireland and because of this thousands of Irish women travel to the UK every year. The Irish Government, under the 1995 Information Act, severely restricts Irish people's access to information about abortion services abroad. Abortion information is only legally obtainable as part of face-to-face counselling. It is illegal for a doctor to refer a patient to a clinic in Britain, even if her health is at risk.