Through Irish eyes: An insight into the abortion debate at UC Berkeley

In the same week that pro life students on campus oppose Senate Resolution 69, a bill that would ensure the Tang Center offers medical abortions, a woman was given a suspended sentence for inducing an abortion in Northern Ireland.

The Tang Center on the UC Berkeley Campus

I grew up in Belfast, attending Catholic schools, and most people I knew were Pro-Life. The only abortion discussion I had during my 14 years of Northern Irish education happened in our religion class, inside the school’s convent — luckily by someone completely unbiased: our white, male, devout Catholic Religious Studies teacher.

I grappled with my stance on the issue for several years. As a girl with four younger sisters, I considered myself a feminist and believed women had the right to control their own bodies. However I love children, and the phrase “baby in a blender” once used during class by a fellow student haunted me. I didn’t even really believe in God anymore at this point, yet being Pro-Choice seemed like far too radical an idea for a good girl like me to have anyway. So I decided that the abortion debate was far too complex an issue, and I would remain indifferent.

Somehow, as I got older the issue became too loud to ignore. My friends and I suddenly all started to get boyfriends, so the topic obviously became more relevant. I started noticing the shocking images on the Precious Life stand in the centre of town. In 2012, the Marie Stopes Clinic opened in Belfast, surrounded by groups of fundamentalist protesters that harass women every day, just like most Planned Parenthood facilities across the United States. Around the same time, Savitar Halappanavar died in the South due to a septic miscarriage after being refused an abortion.

Seeing the other side of the debate from outside convent walls, and witnessing the dangers women across the world put themselves in — not just to obtain an abortion but to provide other women with them — was empowering for me. Slowly, my opinion on the issue started to solidify.

Women On Web travelled across Ireland giving free abortion pills to whoever needed them. Irish women could avoid flying to England in secrecy

I began to ask myself why this law remained in Ireland and not in the rest of the West. It seems to be rooted in Ireland’s resistance to change. Ireland has been a Christian country for hundreds of years, and as such Christian values have always played a large role in politics.

The Troubles, which only ended within my own lifetime, also stifled change. The thirty years of conflict deterred new, diverse people from wanting to enter the country. It is clear when you hear new statements from the supposedly disbanded terror groups, or see the murals, flags and peace walls that divide the people of Belfast, that very little has changed. Politicians are unwilling to move beyond the perpetual argument of unionism versus nationalism, women’s rights are constantly ignored, and the same antiquitous policies remain.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is UC Berkeley. Cal Day brought with it reams of students bursting with pride over Berkeley’s radical history, distinguished reputation, and above all, its brilliant, diverse, and forward-thinking students. And it is deeply disappointing to hear students here echoing the same, tiresome statements of old Irish politicians.  

In California, abortion has been legal for 16 years. One would assume — because California is much more diverse than Ireland, and the Christian Church has a smaller influence — that abortions are safe, cheap, accessible, and lack the stigma that is attached to them in Ireland. While Californian women face less obstacles than they would in states with a strong Christian ethos, such as Texas, local access to abortions in Berkeley would still be a practical asset to UC Berkeley students. Reproductive rights must be made more readily available to all Californian women — no matter who or where they are — before the problem is truly eradicated here. 

There are many reasons why the ASUC Senate decided to unanimously pass Senate Resolution 69. Many college students face financial instability and lack reliable means of transportation, and having these services on campus is not only convenient, but extremely comforting to vulnerable women in these situations. The university has committed itself to students’ mental and physical well-being, and by providing safe medical abortions, students’ welfare can be protected. Furthermore, an unwanted pregnancy would undoubtedly affect a student’s education and future career prospects, and as an academical institution the university should be providing women with the adequate resources to make and support their decisions, whatever they may be.

Regardless of when you believe life begins in the gestation period, the women in these circumstances are undoubtedly alive and are your fellow students at UC Berkeley. It is disheartening to see people at Berkeley fight against what so many women in Ireland, and across the world, are currently fighting for every day. I am accustomed to a place like Ireland — one that is stuck in the past. Although it may take decades for Ireland to change its abortion laws, the regression that a minority of students are calling for on campus can be infintely worse. The fact that some Berkeley students wish to revert to Ireland’s outdated and sexist desire to control women’s bodies is, to me, more discouraging and damaging than Ireland’s static position itself. 

As the race for Northern Ireland’s Assembly Election begins, the abortion debate plays a key role in candidates’ campaigns. I hope that the USA sets an example to Irish women that even if reproductive rights are gained across Ireland, the fight won’t be over. Not until every woman has the equal opportunity to decide what to do with her own body.