Abortion Movies I Want To See (repost)

August 4, 2016 Aoife O'Riordanabortion, abortion movies, movies, pro-choice, repealthe8th1 Comment

Abortion may be illegal and unconstitutional ’round these parts, but it’s also an everyday thing that around one in three women (and other people with uteri) will do in their lives. I want to see it portrayed like that in movies. A part of life, nothing more or less. Abortion movies, movies with abortion as a plot point- never the same, because our lives aren’t ever the same. But always ordinary.

I had some suggestions:

UNDERCOVER ABORTIONISTS

Think 007, only better. Reproductive rights-ier.

Operating outside the law in a land where tyrannical governments ban the most basic healthcare (so we have tons of choices for where to film it), this band of suave, skilled medical professionals do what nobody else dares. Pursued by government officials on one side and anti-choice activists on the other, they risk imprisonment from one and being gunned down at any moment from the other. But they let nothing get in between them and doing what they know is right. Anonymous and unrecognised, they won’t stop until nobody is forced to keep a pregnancy against their will.

Will they manage to stay one step ahead of their pursuers? Will everyone make it out alive?

Come for the repro rights. Stay for the EXPLOSIONS and CAR CHASES and CLEVER DISGUISES and CODEWORDS.

and:

THE ROM COM

The Main Character meets the love of their life while they’re sitting awkwardly in the waiting room. They hit it off and bond over their Favourite Classic TV Show on Love Interest’s tiny phone. The exchange phone numbers and hit it off so well they start spending oodles of time together, sparks flying all over the place (maybe one of them is a mechanic). Everything is going marvellously until Protagonist’s Terrible Ex shows up, or Love Interest drastically misinterprets something Protagonist said. Will they get past the Obstacle and realise that the other is the One For Them? Of course they will!

And of course:

IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT, NO WAY AM I HAVING A BABY

A few days after Protagonist finds out that she’s pregnant, the Apocalypse strikes. Waking up into a world infested with the undead/destroyed by asteroids/taken over by aliens, she knows that she’ll have to do everything she can to survive. And she’ll have to get out of town. On her way, she stops by a shopping mall and grabs all the canned/dried food she can, a bunch of tools and supplies- and a small packet of pills. No way is she bringing a baby into this world- and besides, who can fight off the undead hordes with morning sickness?! Her trolley full, she is on her way out when the building starts to collapse/she’s spotted by the a troop of robot soldiers. Will she make it out alive? Who will she meet along the way? Will she find somewhere she can hole up for a few days while the pills do their magic? And how will the human race survive?

And of course, even more over on the original post. What abortion movies do you want someone to make?

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An Incomplete List Of Gendered Injustices Against Irish Women- and the people working to change them. Part One.

March 8, 2016March 13, 2016 Aoife O'RiordanCatholic Church, consent, Direct Provision, feminism, Government of Ireland, Ireland, magdalene laundries, maternity care, pro-choice, repealthe8th, sex work, symphysiotomy1 Comment

Happy International Women’s Day! While today is for celebrating marvellous women and their achievements, here in Ireland we still have a long way to go before women have equal dignity, autonomy, freedom and respect.

This list isn’t exhaustive. This series of posts details issues that I was able to brainstorm from my room in ten minutes on an A4 sheet of paper. There are undoubtedly far more things that I haven’t even considered.

But here’s what I’ve got.

1. Repeal the 8th Amendment

The 8th Amendment to the Irish Constitution provides that:

“The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.”

This means that without a referendum to change this, no Irish government can legislate for abortion in any case where the pregnant person’s life is not at risk. The chilling effect provided by the Eighth is probably why Savita Halappanavar is not here with us today. It means that if you die while pregnant, but it is possible for your body to be kept metabolising until the fetus is viable, your doctors must do so. Pregnant people who receive diagnoses of fatal fetal abnormalities are forced to travel to the UK for terminations. And to smuggle their wanted children home in the boots of their cars if they want to give them a burial.

It also means that any risk to a pregnant person’s health that doesn’t threaten to kill them is not grounds for a termination. No matter what that will do to their bodies.

Not all pregnant people are women. But most are. And the Eighth Amendment’s purpose is to control women’s bodies. It needs to go.

You can find out more about the campaign to change this hateful provision at Coalition to Repeal the Eighth. Continue reading “An Incomplete List Of Gendered Injustices Against Irish Women- and the people working to change them. Part One.” →

GE16 Red Lines: Who is left to vote for?

February 25, 2016April 10, 2016 Aoife O'Riordanabortion, Cork north central, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, GE16, identity ireland, Irish Election, irish green party, Irish labour party, renua, repealthe8th, Sinn Féin, socialist party ireland13 Comments

To the USians reading this: the election I’m talking about is the Irish general election- GE16- on Friday. Not the Presidential election that you have in nine months. Our election campaign? Three weeks long.

With one day to go before the election, I don’t know who I want to vote for. Who not to vote for? That’s easy, in a constituency that includes the founder of Identity Ireland. It’s an easy rule of thumb: if you’re being invited to speak at Pegida rallies, you don’t get a preference.

Picture of a candidate flyer supporting Peter O'Loughlin. It's annotated. By me. Suffice to say that I don't agree with his blatantly racist views.

That’s easy. Another easy one? Renua’s Paddy O’Leary. A flat tax? Three-strikes-and-life policy for crime? From a party that began when Lucinda Creighton couldn’t stomach dying women being able to access abortions? Continue reading →

Three years on from Savita Halappanavar’s death: My country still kills women.

October 28, 2015April 10, 2016 Aoife O'Riordanabortion, Abortion in the Republic of Ireland, Death of Savita Halappanavar, Pregnancy, pro-choice, repealthe8th6 Comments

Savita Halappanavar died three years ago today. She died of septicaemia. She died from a drawn-out miscarriage that went untreated too long. She died after spending a week in hospital.

A picture of a paper tealight-holder on a table with some papers. Printed on the holder is a young woman's face (Savita Halappanavar), and the words "Never Again"

Savita may have died of blood poisoning, but she was killed by the Eighth Amendment to the Irish Constitution. Two decades of Irish governments have blood on their hands. They were too cowardly to legislate to protect pregnant people’s lives.

Three years ago, I wrote that my country kills women: Continue reading “Three years on from Savita Halappanavar’s death: My country still kills women.” →

In case you thought anti-choicers gave a toss about women. Or children.

September 17, 2015 Aoife O'Riordanabortion, Ireland, misogyny, pro-choice, repealthe8th, silencing women, thirteenth amendment11 Comments

And they say that we’re the ones who don’t care about children?!

This is what happens when women speak up. This is what happens when we tell our stories.

Remember: this isn’t about preventing abortions. It is perfectly legal for pregnant people in Ireland to travel overseas to access the medical care that our country refuses to give us. In 1992, the country was asked to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment to our constitution, which specifically allows pregnant people to leave the country for abortion. It was passed by a 2/3 majority.

There has never, to my knowledge, been a serious effort to repeal the Thirteenth Amendment.

They do not try to prevent people from having abortions.

Instead, they silence them. Call them murderers. Tell them to kill themselves or their children.

There is nothing pro-life about anti-choice. It is stone cold misogyny. Nothing more. Nothing less.
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