Third Annual March for Choice
Channel: Union Solidarity International
Date: 2014-09-30

5,000 people marched in Dublin in the third annual march for Choice on Saturday 27th September.

Ireland's abortion laws are very restrictive and essentially bans abortions from taking place within Ireland. The Irish Constitution equates the life of a woman with that of a fertilised egg or an embryo.

People of all generations marched together from the four corners of Ireland. Staff and students from Queens University marched with poets, teenagers, families as well as groups from Cork and Limerick.

Alice Mary Higgins , speaking on behalf of the National Women's Council of Ireland told marchers that "Right around Ireland in towns and villages women choose to make the journey and travel to have an abortion". She added that " People are marching with their feet but want the chance to use their vote at the ballot box."

Tracey Osment from Unite the Union spoke of a call for unions to come together and unite to Repeal the Eighth Ammendment.

Cathie Doherty, a march organiser, speaking outside the Dail, said thet  "We can have a healthcare system that treats us as equals and gives us the treatment we need."

This was similarly echoed by Dr Mark Murphy from Doctors for Choice who argued that doctors ought demonstrate their "concientious commitment to giving women the healthcare they deserve".

The President of the Union of Students in Ireland, Laura Harmon, reiterated her union's commitment to women's rights and to continue the fight for equality.

Amel Yacef, from AkiDwa, a migrant women's organisation described the obstacles that many migrant women face in obtaining an abortion including a wait of 2 to 4 weeks for a visa to travel for an abortion without the security of knowing if they will get one.

Many people spoke to USiLive to give their reasons why they were macrhing for a woman's right to choose- wacth the video for more.

Clare Daly, a prominent Irish Politician, described how for raped migrants seeking an abortion that "Ireland is a place of Hell" as Miss Y, a migrant was forced to have a Ceasarian Section  instead of an abortion. She also said that " We're here for the right to choose, for the right to have an abortion but also for the right to have children, when we want and how we want, to raise them in dignity and without fear of poverty".

Video © Paula Geraghty