Welcome to Day 6 of the ARC *Tell a Fine Gael TD* campaign, where we focus on one TD a day, telling them in every medium we have available that women in Ireland need abortion legislation and need that legislation to address the real health concerns, real needs of women all over Ireland. Below we have sample tweets, posts, emails, and messages you can send and clinic location. Join us in sharing the reality of what women in Ireland need from the upcoming legislation with Dublin South Central TD and member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, Catherine Byrne.

Photo Credit: Dave Nowak. We ask Catherine Byrne to speak out for women of all backgrounds to the care and the services they need and deserve.

As a member of Fine Gael and advocate for health, Deputy Byrne needs to know, from the people she serves and represents, that the current legislation leaves many women falling through the cracks and in vulnerable positions. She needs to hear that the current legislation would leave low income women facing a complicated or unwanted pregnancy in particularly dire straits. She needs to hear that access to abortion as an important issue of human rights and equality for the people of and in Ireland, and as such, powerful legislation for abortion that does not require a woman to sacrifice her health or her rights to privacy and happiness to acquire the procedures is vitally important to us. We are calling for less restrictive, punitive, and bureaucratic legislation than the current Heads of Bill for the “Protection of Life in Pregnancy Act,” and as a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, Catherine Byrne can help us move toward legislation that is better for the women of Ireland.

As the week goes on, we will focus on Fine Gael TDs from different areas, with different views but our main message is the same: We want legislation for abortion, legislation that provides for the health and rights of women, and we want Catherine Byrne that we appreciate her work on health, and we look to her to support real change to abortion access in Ireland.

Tell Fine Gael TD Byrne that having access to abortion in Ireland is important to you and to the lives of all women throughout the country.

Join as we all make the strong pro-choice voice in Ireland heard. Feel free to share your own views and ideas or have a lend of our sample messages that we included with the contact details below.

Catherine Byrne and member of Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, can be contacted in all of the following ways:

1. On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/catherine.byrnetd

Though Catherine Byrne does not have a public Facebook page, you can still send her a message using Facebook. If you want to add her as a friend so you might post and message her, feel free, if you’d like to send her a private message, you can send it to her as a regular or “other” message. We’ll be doing this.

Example Message: I call on TD Catherine Byrne to represent Dublin South Central and all the women in Ireland to amend legislation to make abortion accessible to all those women at all levels of society who need the procedure.

2. By phone: 01-6183083 in Leinster House  or 01-4735080/01-4735087 in her constituency office.

You can ring her office to either discuss the issue with herself or her staff, or you can leave a message.

Example Message: I am ringing to let Deputy Byrne know that access to abortion in Ireland is important to me. I want the rights and health of women respected and guarded. I want abortion in Ireland, and I call on Deputy Byrne to support legislation that will all allow women to get the health services they need in Ireland without onerous, bureaucratic barriers that threaten their immediate and future health.

3. By visiting her office:

5A Tyrconnell Road, Inchicore, Dublin 8

4. By email: [email protected]

Example email:

Dear Deputy Byrne:

I am writing to inform you that access to abortion in Ireland is important to me. I want the rights, health, and lives of women respected. And I want abortion legislation in Ireland that does not, as the current Heads of Bill do, leave many women falling through the cracks and in vulnerable positions. The current legislation would leave low income women facing a complicated or unwanted pregnancy in particularly dire straits. As a member of Fine Gael and advocate for health, you are in a position to help support that access to abortion as an important issue of human rights and health for the people of and in Ireland. And in your role on the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, you can help create powerful legislation for abortion that does not require a woman to sacrifice her health or her rights to privacy and happiness to acquire the procedure. I want legislation to be less restrictive, punitive, and bureaucratic than the current Heads of Bill for the “Protection of Life in Pregnancy Act,” and I call on you to help move toward legislation that is better for the women of Ireland.

Respectfully,

[your name]

Check here for that past day’s TDs.
Come back tomorrow for Day 7 of Tell a Fine Gael TD Week.