Remember the other day when I posted about Irish doctors comparing women to Nazis and rejecting a move to put guidelines in place to allow women to have abortions when their lives are at risk? As it turns out, things may be more complicated than they seem.
According to Irish Medical News, Irish anti-choice activists have been continuing their usual tactics of bussing people in without bothering to mention where they’ve come from, in this case to stuff the Irish Medical Organisation’s ballots.
According to the IMO’s rules, in order to be eligible to vote, members must be “registered or provisionally registered under the Medical Practitioners Act for the time being in force in the State”. According to IMN:
Several former or never-before members joined in the weeks leading up to this year’s AGM and may have resigned hours after the abortion motions were debated… It is understood that some people who voted may not have been eligible to do so.
In addition to stuffing the ballot, anti-choicers engaged in some legitimate campaigning:
Pro-life activists picketed the gates of the Hotel Europe as the AGM began, and handouts outlining the motions with suggested comments to make before rejecting the motion were distributed throughout the auditorium.
However, it’s not all bad:
GP Dr Mary Favier of Doctors for Choice, who proposed the motions, told IMN that she believed the defeat presented an “overwhelmingly bad image for doctors” and added that Doctors for Choice were being “bombarded with requests” to join.
TL;DR
- Anti-choicers show yet again that they have no respect either for women’s lives or for honest campaigning and debate.
- Anti-choicers show yet again that they are badly out-of-touch with public opinion.
- In response to anti-choice dishonesty and disrespect, pro-choice grassroots organisations gain yet more support and publicity.
If, by the way, you’re a doctor yourself, why not pop over to Doctors for Choice and show your support?
Related articles
- Irish doctors reject motion on abortion control (theseatonpost.com)
- Setback to Irish anti-abortion plans – The Hindu (thehindu.com)
- IMO rejects motions on abortion (irishtimes.com)
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