women's access to new reproductive technologies is being used to restrict them. In response, the "Stop The Amendment Campaign -fight for choice" and the "Campaign for Donor Insemination" have been launched to fight on the issues raised. It will be crucial to challenge the growing consensus within the labour movement around a 24 week time limit on abortion.
In Britain we can take inspiration from our sisters in the USA, France, Belgium, the Spanish state, Italy, Ireland and now Poland, where women have mobilised in their millions to defend and extend reproductive rights.
If the same determination and tenacity shown by women east and west to defend reproductive rights is shown by the European labour movement to defend itself against the Single European Act, the outlook for workers' in Europe will be so much brighter.
"Whilst the social
democrats ...
have their
"discourse on
equality" and make demands
to improve the Social Charter, women (and all
workers) need to get organised
and develop cross-European co-ordination to
defend our interests" "we should also recognise that the defence of
reproductive
rights has
mobilised and
will mobilise women across
Europe. Any
attacks have met with fierce
opposition"
Page 17
Contraceptive Action Programme (CAP) protesters demonstrate aginst restrictive family planning Irish women - up against the power of
RAPE! "Irish women have suffered qualitively more setbacks than any other section of Irish society" Page 18
Irish women have suffered qualitively more setbacks than any other section of Irish society.
There has been a vicious attack on women's rights in the 26 Counties, while in the North the nationalist population has been confronted with attack after attack on their basic rights. Women's rights in Ireland are in any case quite limited in comparison with the rights in mainland Europe.
The sustained attack against women has given rise to an uneven response. What I want to concentrate on is the question of abortion. In 1979 Family Planning was legalised. Obviously people were using contracep tives before then, but it was not actual legal. After the right wing had lost the battle to keep out contraception, they moved on to abortion. The