Open Letter to Regina Doherty, TD and member of Oireachtas Health Committee

Today's letter in the "Tell a Fine Gael TD" campaign is to Regina Doherty. She is a TD from Meath East and is also on the Oireachtas Committee for Health and Children.

Dear Ms. Doherty,

You've stated publicly that “the State should act” to legislate for abortion in cases where a woman's life is at risk and that you are “95% ready” to support a bill. I understand that there has been a lot of pressure coming at you from your party and from other interest groups to keep the status quo, and therefore I appreciate the courage it takes to oppose that pressure and do what you feel is right for women in Ireland.

As a member of the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, you are in a particularly influential position to ensure that the Heads of Bill achieves its objectives. In order for that to happen, some important changes need to be made.

First of all, we can all agree that “the unborn” is not a medical term and should not be used in legislation meant to supply guidance for medical intervention. Secondly, the Heads of Bill requires an excessive number of medical opinions in every single case. The time and logistics involved in obtaining so many medical professionals' verdicts will prohibit women from receiving timely medical care. In the case of risk to life from self-destruction, you have to be lucky enough to be somewhere registered by the Mental Health Commission where there happens to be an Ob/Gyn who can perform an abortion in addition to two psychiatrists. Do we even know how many such clinics exist in Ireland? The suicidal woman with mental illness is then faced with the degrading task of convincing three people of her suicidality. If one of them doesn't believe her, she will be forced to endure the appeals process of repeating the experience, and will have to wait two weeks. The process is designed to force these women into suicide or travel. If the woman doesn't have the means to travel, suicide it will likely be.

You seem to have compassion for X, Ms. Doherty, a girl who was impregnated by her rapist. Thousands of women are raped every year in Ireland, and approximately 7% of them become pregnant as a result. Women in these traumatic situations who become suicidal shouldn't have to beg for mercy from up to six doctors to be treated in Ireland. They deserve to be listened to, respected, and cared for.

The proposal that women who are found guilty of self-aborting in the country (as opposed to traveling) will result in nothing short of a witch hunt. Furthermore, a 14 year jail sentence reflects a serious anti-woman agenda considering that male rapists in Ireland are convicted at the rate of 1% and generally spend less than 7 years in jail. I understand that anti-abortion lawmakers want to send a clear message that they don't want abortion in Ireland, but at what cost? Many women, having self-induced a medical abortion (aka the “abortion pill”), will not pursue the necessary follow-up care for fear of prosecution. Incomplete abortions are rare, but they do occur. In those instances, lack of medical treatment can result in infertility and death.

In today's Irish Independent, Enda Kenny is reported to have said that “the bill affirms, rather than weakens, Ireland's general ban on abortion.” As it stands, he is correct. There are so many impediments in the bill that it will surely fail to protect the lives and rights of pregnant women. But that is surely not the intention set forth by the Oireachtas Health Committee and the rest of the Dail. At least, I hope not. The 92% of Irish people who want legislation on the X case ruling and the EU Court of Human Rights ruling are trusting you to act on our behalf. We hope you have the courage to stand against political pressure from your party and stand up for women in Ireland.

Sincerely,
Angela Coraccio

We don't generally read the Herald, but Mark and I happened to be in a waiting room for a long, long time, and someone left a copy, so we took a gander. One article in particular caught our eye: Threat to RTE millions over anti-FF claims. Ok, so for my non-Irish readers, FF stands for Fianna Fáil (usually pronounced Feena Fall unless you want to get fancy and Irish, then it's sort of indescribable), which is Ireland's Republican party, which lords over Irish politics like a big dome blocking out the sun. Except for a few years in the 90s, Fianna Fail has been dominating elections since 1987. Here's the party leader, Brian Cowen:

Even the look on his face says, "Maybe you shoulda gotten someone else to do this job."

RTE, for my non-Irish readers, is Ireland's National Television and Radio Station, kinda like the BBC only with pretty crappy and pedestrian programming. It's also run by the government, essentially. As such, the government makes anyone with a television in Ireland to pay a "TV licensing fee," or else go to jail. But that's a rant for another day.

Now here's the thing. Fianna Fail is up in arms because they say that RTE is trying to make them look bad. According to the article, FF TD Noel Treacy said, "As far as I am concerned RTE is a left-wing organisation that has not committed itself to promoting policies laid down by the Government or parliament."

So politicians are complaining because a media outlet is not spewing governmental propaganda. Seriously? Have they never heard of freedom of the press? I don't get it. And of course the irony is that I'm pretty sure the consensus was that RTE did almost nothing BUT promote the Irish government. Hell, they ARE the government! What. the. FF.

Can we talk about Mary Harney for a minute? I'm really torn about this:


So Mary Harney is Ireland's Minister for Health and Children. Of course, it's a nation-wide joke that our Minister for Health looks about as healthy as Jabba the Hut. Now, as a feminist, I have a natural inclination to want to support women in politics. But politicians, well, they're politicians. As far as I can tell, Mary Harney seems to be one part robot and one part Orc. I mean, just look at her face. It's stoney and heartless. And that's pretty much how she rolls. The proposed cuts on the Health Service Executive (HSE), which is how I have a medical card -- the only way I have access to any health care at all -- are between 600 million and 1 billion euro. (For American readers, 600 mil is like 834 million dollars.)

Basically what's happening here in Ireland, as far as I can see, is that in trying to make fiscal ends meet, the government is trying to skimp on services from the bottom (the poor, the elderly, the disabled, the mentally ill, public sector workers) instead of demanding that the country's wealthy (and I mean wealthy, not middle class) pay more in taxes, or... any taxes. Mary Harney is essentially a demon right now as hospitals either close or are over-crowded with not enough staff.

So on one hand I think YEAH! I love the sight of Mary Harney, hands covered with the (symbolic) blood of people who will die from not receiving health services as a result of these cuts. But on the other hand, I'm just sad and discouraged. It's like eating that delicious chocolate eclair -- it feels good, but is it ultimately good for us? Will Mary Harney, or anyone else for that matter, suddenly come around because she was attacked with red paint? From today's interviews on the radio and online, it only seems to have made her feel all the more that it's ok to discount her critics. And I think god, how degrading it all is.

My friend Clare and I are taking part in a DCTV (Dublin Community Television) program, and we get to speak with some of the people behind Banshee, a feminist magazine from the late 1970s. As research, I was given some copies of the magazine to read. Holy moly it's amazing how much has changed, yet how little. For example, contraception was illegal when Banshee was started in 1976. Ireland was the only country in the UN to refuse to ratify a law that would give women equal pay. And abortion...well, we still don't have legal abortion here. But I love the fighting, unified voice of the articles. Sometimes outrage prompts great action.

Back to politics. I didn't actually post about the Blasphemy Bill when it was all going on/ getting passed a few months ago. But now that it's gone into effect, you bet your sweet buns I'm posting about it now.

For those of you who don't know, Ireland passed a law last year that makes it a crime to say anything "that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion; and he or she intends, by the publication of the matter concerned, to cause such outrage," punishable with a fine up to 25k euro. Now, on one hand, you might think well gosh, why would you want to make any kind of a statement that's insulting or would cause outrage to anyone, anyways? But you see, I am highly insulted by that question. And outraged. And abused.

My first point is this: who is to say what falls into this obtuse criteria? If a large enough group hysterically cries insult, is that enough? And how many is "a substantial number"? When I taught English Composition, I always warned my students against using unclear terms of measurement open to wide margins of interpretation. If a student of mine handed me this law, I would fail it. There is no true way to measure who is legally breaking this law.

My second point: What on earth is the purpose of this law? Haven't religious institutions been protected enough? And where did that get us. We should have laws protecting us from religion, not the other way around. So, the Catholic church doesn't want to be full of "outrage," the victims of abuse, or have insulted those things they deem sacred? Yeah - neither do the rest of us, but that hasn't stopped the Church from abusing, outraging, and insulting millions and millions of people over the past few centuries. So where's the law that protects us from it?

This law is such a piece of garbage, it's embarrassing. Why not draft a law that focuses on something that really hurts, like hate crimes? Didn't anyone in the government ever hear the schoolyard saying, "sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me"? I mean, grow up and realize that trying to control what people say does not work. And it doesn't change how people feel, and it will only make people feel that they need to act in a manner even more intense. Free speech can be a pain sometimes, because you have to deal with people being able to legally say things you don't agree with and find offensive. But it's free speech that protects institutions as well as individuals in the end. The blasphemy law protects no one, and time will show that.

Already journalists all over the world are writing about this law, making a mockery of Ireland. And you know what? Honestly, if I didn't already live here, I wouldn't visit based solely on this law alone, that's how offensive I find it. I would rather give my tourist money to a country that tries to promote and foster a way for people of various beliefs to live together peacefully rather than to try and dictate who can say what, and what is offensive, and what is not, and to silence unfashionable words and ideas. And surely, when it comes to religion in Ireland, did they not have bigger fish to fry than this?

A Study in Irish Politics. (Language not suitable for Children.)


You know, he sure would have sounded a lot less crazy if he hadn't apologized in the next breath. If you have the guts to yell F*** you in the Dail, then I don't see why you should take it back.

According to this report today in the Irish Times, "TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen urged people to face the future with 'renewed fortitude and courage', saying Ireland needs a 'major national effort' to get through the recession. Speaking in Co Offaly yesterday, Mr Cowen said 'every recession provides the opportunity for a restructuring of our economy and that is what we have to do today'. This would involve painful decisions in the short term, he said. 'The purpose of all that is, of course, to adapt to the new circumstances. As business has to do, so must public administration, and in doing that we will provide the most effective response we can for the hard-pressed taxpayer, but also, of course, to prepare ourselves and put ourselves in the position to forge ahead again as we will when this recessions lifts,' said Mr Cowen."

Here's the thing. The recession isn't a head cold. It's not just going to magically "lift" like some random affliction that has inexplicably happened to the country. I don't understand how they expect all this cutting of budgets is going to help "taxpayers," (their word for residents -- seemingly the only residents of the country who matter to them) have more money. Why is there no investing in the economy, job creation instead of job cutting, and well, stimulus to the economy? I don't get it. I keep trying to figure it out and I don't understand it still. I do have American friends who are being laid off, of course -- it isn't all roses in the US -- but there is hope, and there is some kind of light at the end of the tunnel. Here, it's just doom and gloom everywhere you look, day after day.