[What does Bernadette Devlin McAliskey think? The rationale…]

Scan page 6

What does Bernadette Devlin McAliskey think?

The rationale for the Feb. 26 Irish Supreme Court decision reversing the ban against a 14-year-old rape victim travelling to Britain to obtain an abortion had some amusing It was a comedy of the politicians and the Catholic Church teachers of morality hiding not only behind a court, but even behind the supra-national institutions of the European Common Market, which supposedly guarantee the right of movement for citiSocialist Action called Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, a leading Irish socialist and spokesperson for human rights, and asked for her opinion on the decision. She told us that she was sure the court would hand down such a ruling because the public support for the 14-year-old rape vicum was so strong. If it had not, she said, the establishment politicians and the Church would have had to face a new referendum on the constitutional ban on abortion, this time with a real possibility that the anti-abortionists would She laughed at the claim that the court was acceding to the principles of the EEC since internal deportation and exile are commonly used by the British authorities against Irish republicans and suspected republicans and sympathizers, and no one has ever thought that the EEC guaranteed them any right of movement. She also thought that the court showed a disrespect for the Irish constitution, which itself guarantees the right The very righteous Irish Catholic officials, McAliskey said, were continuing to use the availability of abortion in Britain as a safety valve for the consequences of their reactionary policy in Ireland She feared that the court decision would allow the Dublin govemment to avoid the issue posed by the plight of the 14-year-old rape victim, and stressed the need for continuing international solidarity with the fight for women's On Feb. 20, the Irish Supreme Court overruled a High Court injunction and ruled that a 14-year-old rape victim had the right to travel to Britain to have an abortion. The following article was sent to us shortly before the Feb. 26, Supreme Court decision.—the editors DUBLIN-A High Court injunction, preventing a 14-year-old pregnant rape victim from traveling to Britain to obtain an abortion, has led to a major political crisis for the Irish government.

The story became main news headlines since it first came to public attention on Feb. 13. There was an immediate response to the judgment, with several militant and angry protests organized by feminists, student activists, and others opposed to the judgment. On Feb. 22, up to 20,000 people marched through Dublin protesting the ruling.

The girl and her parents went to England to obtain an abortion. Prior to travelling, they had inquired from the gardaí (the Irish police), who subsequently inquired from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), whether fetal tissue could be used in the Irish courts as legal evidence to identify and convict the rapist.

The DPP's office contacted the attomey general, who immediately issued an interim injunction banning the girl or the family from obtaining an abortion. The family and the girl, who were in England at this stage, retured without her having had the abortion. They were distraught. According to professional opinion, the girl is suicidal.

On Feb. 17, the High Court upheld the injunction, restraining the girl and her parents from leaving the jurisdiction for nine months.

Threats against women

The injunction has been described as barbaric and medieval, putting women in Ireland in a position similar to those in Khomeini's Iran and Ceaucescu's Romania. It has demeaned the status of women, and will ensure that female rape victims will not report such assaults in the future for fear of interrogation or criminal victimization by the courts or the state.

It strikes fear into all women, and makes women contemplating an abortion open to injunction if their intentions are reported to the authorities. It also increases the threat to women that the life of the fetus will be given precedence over the mother's life in a complicated birth or medical emergency situation.

The judgment disregarded the mental and psychological health of the girl-even though she is suicidal. The court ruled that she is obliged to continue with the pregnancy.

LIFE, an offshoot of the anti-abortion group Society for the Protection of the Unbor Child (SPUC), offered to care for her until she bears the child. Their cynicism and disregard for the girl and her family have alienated people from them. They are being seen more clearly as reactionary bigots.

The case presents the government with a major political problem. Clearly the politicians are pushing for the Supreme Court to lift the injunction. They are anxious to avoid a referendum to amend or repeal the anti-abortion amendment to the constitution that was passed in 1983. aspects.

zens of EEC countres lose.

of travel fights in Ireland -the editors id in this affair.

Significantly, the Catholic Church has so far remained in the background in this affair. An opinion poll conducted by a popular radio program showed a majority in favor of removing the anti-abortion amendment.

Escalating attacks

It is just over eight years since the anti-abortion constitutional amendment was passed, and in those years we have witnessed a continuous and escalating series of attacks on women's reproductive rights.

First, the pregnancy counseling and abortion-referral services of the Dublin women's clinics were closed down through rulings that found in favor of SPUC, which claimed that the clinics' activities were contravening the anti-abortion article of the constitution.

Secondly, British magazines, such as Cosmopolitan, were censored for carrying advertisements for British abortion clinics in their Irish editions. Students were enjoined and hauled through the courts for disseminating and publishing abortion the referendum on the Maastricht treaty, which calls for closer collaboration among the Common Market countries. They may have to amend the constitution in order to get this treaty ratified.

Because of the anti-abortion article in the Irish constitution, the Irish government sought and was granted an exemption from the terms of the treaty on this point. There is now a very real fear among the ruling class that the backlash caused by the present case of the 14-year-old rape victim could keep the treaty from being ratified. So, this is a real pressure on the Irish government to amend or repeal its anti-abortion amendment.

It is vital, therefore, for feminists and activists throughout Europe and worldwide to organize protests in support of their Irish sisters, and in particular for the lifting of the injunction and repeal of the anti-abortion amendment.

As this is written, the family of the 14year-old rape victim is appealing the High Court Injunction to the Supreme Court. The strategy of the government and the opposition parties seems to be to interpret the amendment loosely enough to take the heat out of the situation without offending the Church.

However, if the Supreme Court lifts the restrictions on the 14-year-old (an outcome SPUC claims to favor), it will not appease the forces of the right, who will continue to widen their assault on women's rights as soon as the present crisis subsides.

On March 8, International Women's Day, a major national demonstration will be held in Ireland. We would welcome messages of support and solidarity. They can be sent to the Repeal the Amendment Campaign, c/o 38 Norfolk Road, Phibsborough, Dublin 7, Ireland (temporary address).

"The first hunger strike of Republican political prisoners in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh concentration camp in Northern Ireland took place late in 1980. This desperate action was forced by British attempts to criminalize the Republican prisoners. It was ended when the British seemed to concede the substance of political status for the prisoners.

A second one began in early 1981 when it became clear that the British did not really intend to yield on this issue. The second strike ended after the deaths of nearly a dozen prisoners. The protest in Long Kesh was linked to one in Armagh, where the women political prisoners were held, although there was no hunger strike there.

A number of hunger strikers were put up as candidates in the Irish general elections of June 1981. They got an unexpectedly high vote, and some were even elected. This was the first big warning sign that the Irish bourgeois electoral system was becoming unstable.