Northern Ireland under pressure after historic abortion vote

[bobsaigon2]

AFP May 27, 2018 Pressure mounted on Sunday for British-ruled Northern Ireland to liberalise its strict abortion laws after a historic referendum in the neighbouring Republic of Ireland overturned its ban.

More than 66 percent of voters in the Republic of Ireland backed repealing the constitutional ban on terminations, triggering scenes of tearful jubilation in Dublin after an emotional campaign.

British lawmakers said Northern Ireland, where abortions are only allowed if the physical or mental health of the mother are at severe risk, should now follow suit. Women who have unsanctioned abortions in Northern Ireland face life imprisonment under 19th-century legislation still in place.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But was this carefully thought out? How will this affect the Irish economy? Abortion rights obviously means fewer children born to Irish women.
The home construction industry will suffer with less demand for five bedroom houses containing bunk rooms. The sweet shops near schools will see a reduction in patronage. The clothing industry will be forced to cut back on children’s items. The supermarkets will face diminished demand, resulting in shorter opening hours, reduction in staff, reduction of quantities ordered from wholesalers and farmers. McDonalds will be left with a surplus of Happy Meal items. Seminaries will no longer produce an excess of priests who formerly were a major Irish export.

And looking a bit further into the future of unrestricted abortion, what about Guinness, pubs, craftsmen who produce banjos and Uilleann pipes, and the restaurants that specialise in First Communion brunches?

While the Irish medical practitioners may see a noticeable increase in abortion requests, by medical tourists from Northern Ireland, Malta, Vatican City, Poland, etc., there is still the question of how to compensate for the expected lower birth rate in Ireland?

The obvious solution to maintaining current population growth is to encourage immigration. The Irish people just need a referendum to decide which nationalities they would like to welcome. Maybe more citizens of Poland or Portugal? Some from North and southern Africa to lend variety to the population mix? This could be a very interesting sociological/ethnological process for the Irish people.

[Nirish guy]

Abortion rights obviously means fewer children born to Irish women. ........ The Irish people just need a referendum to decide which nationalities they would like to welcome. .

Your assumption above about giving people rights will result in fewer children is flawed as any mother who decided to proceed with an abortion simply went to England to have one ( or god forbid some back street illegal clinic), all that will change in that regard now is geography.

I'm assuming then that your actual main point was some comment or light joke about immigration perhaps ?

If so could I politely and very respectfully suggest that THIS topic is one that SGF just doesn't need to discuss / rip apart with jokes and jibes and it's best just to leave that entire topic to facebook to do that too, as no matter what ones personal thoughts on abortion etc it does still involve the taking of life ( depending on your view again I accept) and because of that then surely this is just a topic we can pass on here on this gay board and leave it to others to play around with elsewhere ? - again respectfully and just IMHO of course.

[bobsaigon2]

After submitting my initial post in this thread, I prepared the following in case there was any misunderstanding. But I suppose you are right, Nirish. Probably not something to be joked about, at least not by someone who does not have an Irish passport.

I intended my post to be satirical. We will not see any of the dire consequences in the fabric of Irish society that some clergy predicted before the vote. In fact, there will be no noticeable change in the lives of Irish citizens. The economy will not suffer, the birth rate will not plummet. The number of women choosing abortion will not be significantly greater now. Attendance at RC and C of I services will remain steady unless it diminishes for reasons not related to abortion. Life will go on. Pubs will survive, McDonalds will see no need to cancel their Happy Meals. The only change that will occur is that Irish women will now conveniently terminate a pregnancy that they, and not others, deem unwanted or dangerous to their health. That is as it should be.

[Nirish guy]

Absolutely correct there - only difference might be less children for the priests to sexually abuse or dead baby's bodies for them and the nuns to throw into septic tanks now perhaps - and to think they have the cheek to lecture others about what's right and wrong for their lives.

https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/iris...up-800-9979348

(sorry i couldn't resist - as it's stories like the above that had people angry and quite prepared to tell the church to go get stuffed as they tried to moralise and shame ordinary decent people into casting a "no" vote it appears).

[bobsaigon2]

That was a very sobering article. I’m sure I must have read the story last year but it had escaped my mind, and on the maps I still see Bon Secours Hospitals. I didn’t make the connection, and even if I had I would not have understood why the nuns had not been immediately disbanded.

I won’t make any further comments on internal Irish affairs, but as a born and bred Catholic with 16+ years of Catholic schooling, perhaps I am qualified to question the relevance of (any?) religion to human life. For the first time in history, a pope has apologised for sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. It took a couple of thousand years to get that far?? The leadership of the Church has failed miserably and demonstrably in Asia-Pacific (Guam and the Philippines), South and North America, Europe. If I were ever to attend church again, I’d be considering the Anglicans or the Lutherans, or for a non-intrusive, free-from-predatory-clergy organization, the Quakers.

[Khor tose]

For whatever reason the Irish voted for personal freedom over dogma, I admire their choice. Here in the US, out present government is busy trying to reverse years of liberalism. As our megalomania president would say, "how sad".

How hard is it, to immigrate to Ireland?

[Smiles]

How hard is it, to immigrate to Ireland?

Why not just come back to Thailand? You've squattered there before (though you didn't learn much), and the army dictatorship is generally benign.

[scottish-guy]

...any mother who decided to proceed with an abortion simply went to England to have one ...

...and paid for it as England will not treat them under the NHS!

Scotland however has been providing free NHS abortions to these Northern Irish women for some time (as has Wales)

[Nirish guy]

?? Sg accordingly to google / BBC news England has been saying for that since around June last year and Scotland since around November 17 also ( not that it matters as I dont intend to be using their services anytime soon of course)

Source : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-41879520

[scottish-guy]

Fair enough - thanks for clarification and happy to be corrected

But like yourself I always take precautions and I find that "doing it" whilst standing in a bucket of water has worked so far