TO THE PEOPLE OF IRELAND

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PEOPLE OF IRELAND: In the name of social justice and equality, the time has come to march for our freedom and demand our right to choose.

Having organised ourselves in protest of unjust treatment, having established pro-choice groups across the island, having witnessed hundreds of thousands of pregnant people forced to travel across the Irish sea and beyond to access healthcare, and hundreds of thousands more – unable to travel – resorting to means that are criminalised in this jurisdiction, having resolutely waited for a repeal of the 8th amendment that has STILL not come, we now seize that moment, supported by our global pro-choice allies, we march in full confidence of victory.

We declare the right of the women of Ireland to be trusted with decisions about their bodies, health and lives. The long usurpation of that right by church control and state neglect has not extinguished the right, nor can it ever be extinguished. In every generation the Irish residents have asserted their right to control their bodies. Standing on that fundamental right, we hereby proclaim the need for free, safe and legal abortion across the island of Ireland.

A post-repeal Ireland guarantees equal access to abortion to all its residents not only for those who can afford to travel but regardless of ethnicity, legal or social status – and declares its resolve to pursue the health and wellbeing of the whole nation and all its parts cherishing all people of the nation equally, and recognising that making decisions about when and how to give birth is a right, not a privilege.

We call upon you – the people of Ireland and outside it – to rise up and demand reproductive justice. Speak with your feet and MARCH FOR CHOICE on September 24th.