INSIDE the last three years, a reported 460 women from Limerick travelled to the UK to have their pregnancies terminated. The figures were obtained by the Limerick Post as calls were being made for the Government to tackle the promised abortion legislation, 20 years after the infamous X case. According to figures supplied to this newspaper by the British Department of Health, in 2008, 2009 and 2010, 4,402 women travelled from Ireland to the UK to terminate their pregnancies.
Of those who gave addresses here, 460 said they lived in Limerick. But the true figure may be even higher, as more than 2,000 Irish women did not give their county of residence when registering for the procedure.
The numbers travelling from Limerick are relatively high in comparison to neighbouring Clare, where 216 women made the journey to avail of the service which is legal in the UK. Galway women account for 570 terminations in comparison.
The UK Department did not give a breakdown between city and county or for individual years and the names of women who sought abortions are never revealed.
According to the British Family Planning service, the cost of the operation – which is illegal here – is between £520 and £1,600, depending on how far advanced the pregnancy is.
This week, the Rape Crisis Network, the National Women’s Council and the Irish Family Planning Association, called on the government to legislate for abortion after what the organisations say is “20 years of inaction”.
This month marks the 20th anniversary of the infamous “X case” in which a suicidal 14-year-old rape victim was prevented by the High Court from leaving the country to have an abortion.
The Supreme Court overturned that ruling but, despite its judgement paving the way for legal abortion in limited circumstances here, neither the Government of the day nor its successors have legislated for it.
Miriam Duffy of Rape Crisis Mid West, said that of the 164 female clients they dealt with last year, five became pregnant as a result of rape, and two travelled to the UK for terminations.
Ms Duffy told the Limerick Post that legislation to deal with the issue is “long overdue. It has been put on the long finger again and again”.
She pointed out that while the morning after pill is now available without prescription at many pharmacies, “for a lot of women who are survivors of rape, that’s the last thing on their minds. It could be a month or more before that possibility occurs to them and by then, it’s too late”.
The lack of legislation is “an Irish answer. People know it is happening and it needs to be sorted out for everyone”.
Pictured is Miriam Duffy of Rape Crisis Mid West
