Irish independence fighter and civil
rights leader. In 1969, at 21, she was
the youngest ever elected Member of
Parliament, and sat as an independent
socialist. She survived being shot 14
times in a British government-linked
assasination attempt in 1981
"The issue of repeal of the Eighth
Amendment* is actually not even
an issue about abortion. It is
fundamentally in this case about
abortion. But it is at its core, in
the 21s Century, a demand that
the last usurpation of authority
of the individual human being, of
human beings, be ended. That is the
usurpation of a woman's right to
control her own body. To exercise
first and last authority over that
individual body. All day. Every day
that she is alive. Not simply when
she is a pregnant woman.
Let us be clear that the demand of
the end of usurpation. The demand
for our right to control out bodies.
To make our own reproductive
system is not a favour we are asking
for certain circumstances. It is a
fundamental defense of democracy
for every person..."
-March for Choice, September 30
2017.
*The Eighth Amendment criminalized
abortion in Ireland under all
circumstances, except where the life of a
pregnant woman was at risk. On May
25, 2018, after decades-long campaign
led by Irish women, a referendum was
passed overwhelmingly to delete the
constitutional ban on abortion.
