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In our Q&A: Eighth Amendment Referendum series, we are answering questions our readers have submitted in relation to the upcoming vote on 25 May.
THE QUESTION
NINE WOMEN AND girls leave Ireland every day to have a termination in the UK. A further three order abortion pills online.
More than 170,000 women and girls have travelled to another country for an abortion since 1980. The vast majority went to Britain, while a smaller number went to the Netherlands.
On 25 May, Irish people will have the opportunity to vote in a referendum asking whether or not the Eighth Amendment, Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution, should be repealed.
The amendment gives equal constitutional status to the mother and the unborn and effectively bans abortion from taking place legally in most scenarios in Ireland.
However, women are permitted to receive information about terminations from their doctors, and travel abroad to have one if they so choose.
In a referendum in November 1992, the majority of voters backed a constitutional amendment which allowed women and girls to travel “between the State and another state” to get access to a termination” (62.4% in favour).
Voters also backed the following amendment on the right to information: ”This subsection shall not limit freedom to obtain or make available, in the State, subject to such conditions as may be laid down by law, information relating to services lawfully available in another state.”
So, how many women and girls travel to the UK to have abortions?
Figures from the UK Department of Health show that 190,406 abortions were reported as taking place in England and Wales in 2016 – of which 185,596 involved residents of England and Wales. The vast majority of these abortions (92%) were performed under 13 weeks of pregnancy.
In 2016, 4,810 abortions were carried out on women who were not residents of England and Wales – compared with 5,190 in 2015. The number of abortions to non-residents has fallen each year since 2003, when the figure was 9,078. The 2016 number is the lowest in any year since 1969.
Some 3,265 females travelled from Ireland to the UK for abortions in 2016, the latest year for which we statistics are available. That means Irish females accounted for almost seven in 10 (67.9%) of the non-resident abortions carried out in Britain that year.
The figures also show that another 724 women and girls gave addresses from Northern Ireland (15%).
This compares to 3,451 who gave an address in the Republic, and 833 who gave an address in Northern Ireland, in 2015.
The vast majority of the females who gave addresses from the Republic lived in Dublin – 1,175.
During a Dáil debate in January, Health Minister Simon Harris listed how many women and girls left Irish counties to go to the UK for terminations.
He stated: “These are real women, such as the 36 from county Carlow who travelled to the UK for an abortion in 2016, or the 38 from Mayo, the 69 from Tipperary, the 85 from Wicklow, the 241 from Cork and the 1,175 women from Dublin.
“Women from every county in the Republic travelled to the UK in 2016 and we need to acknowledge them all, including the 49 from Kerry; 130 from Kildare; 21 from Leitrim; 20 from Roscommon; 69 from Wexford; 39 from Cavan; 15 from Monaghan; 99 from Limerick; 53 from Clare; 38 from Westmeath; 63 from Donegal; 113 from Galway; 44 from Kilkenny; 42 from Laois; 83 from Louth; 100 from Meath; 28 from Offaly; 29 from Sligo; 16 from Longford; and 56 from Waterford.”
Women in the age groups ranging from 20-39 accounted for most of the terminations (85%).
However, 10 girls under the age of 16 sought an abortion in the UK last year, as did 56 girls aged 16 or 17 and 174 women aged 18 or 19. A further 255 women aged 40 and over also had terminations.
Just over half of these women (51%) had a partner, while almost one in five (19%) were married or in a civil partnership.
Almost four in five of the women and girls (79%) had not had a previous abortion. Some 85% of the terminations took place within 12 weeks of gestation, with the majority of these (2,256) taking place within the first nine weeks.
Abortion pills
Commenting on figures when they were released last year, Helen Deely, head of the HSE Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme, said: “It appears that the rate of women travelling abroad for an abortion declined relatively rapidly between 2001 and 2007 and in recent years the decline has been more gradual.”
She said recent research shows that “increasing numbers of women from the island of Ireland are making contact with online abortion pill providers”.
Figures published by one provider would suggest a 62% increase in the number of women from Ireland contacting that online service over a five-year period, from 548 in 2010 to 1438 in 2015.
“The authors report that the number of women who consult with the service is not indicative of the actual number of women who were sent the abortion pill and subsequently took it.
“This is because women change their minds, experience a spontaneous miscarriage, decide to travel abroad to obtain an abortion or decide to continue with their pregnancy.”
Deely added that research shows, while the vast majority of women did not need to contact medical services following taking the abortion pill at home, approximately one in 10 (9.3%) “reported to the online provider that they were experiencing a symptom for which they were advised to seek medical advice and 95% sought medical advice as advised”, Deely said.
Why women and girls have abortions
The Oireachtas Eighth Amendment Committee examined the UK’s abortion system during its hearings last year.
In November Dr Patricia Lohr, Medical Director of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, told the committee that BPAS has been “providing abortion care to women from Ireland since 1968“.
Indeed, BPAS’s website notes: “We’ve helped Irish women for a very long time, so we understand the difficulties you may face to get treatment.
BPAS has clinics in over 60 locations – many are close to ports and airports with direct budget travel from Ireland.
“Our special prices help you afford the best possible clinical care. More discount is available if you visit an Irish crisis pregnancy counselling agency before attending for BPAS treatment.”
The organisation is in favour of repealing the Eighth Amendment.
Speaking about Irish women travelling to the UK for abortions, Lohr told the Oireachtas committee: “Last year 3,625 women were recorded in the annual abortion statistics produced by the Department of Health in England as having given an Irish address when they presented for treatment. Over the past 10 years, the number of women giving Irish addresses has fallen, from 4,600 in 2008.
This decline may be underpinned by a number of factors, including: better access to contraceptive services, and emergency contraception, increased access to abortion medication, as well as raised awareness that free treatment can be obtained with a UK address.
Lohr noted that a paper in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology published in July “reported that between January 2010 and December 2015, 5,650 women from Ireland and Northern Ireland contacted one online provider alone to request medical termination of pregnancy”.
Lohr told the committee there is “little difference between the reasons why women from Ireland present compared to those from the UK”. She said the reasons given by women and girls seeking abortions are “diverse and multifaceted”.
They involve “financial hardship, knowledge that her family is complete, inadequate partner or family support, domestic violence, or simply feeling they are not in the position to care for a baby at that point in their lives”, Lohr stated.
Of Irish women who receive abortion care in the UK, 70% are married or with a partner. Nearly half have already had at least one previous birth, meaning they are already mothers. All this is in keeping with information we have for women from the UK.
Lohr noted that, while some abortions “take place of pregnancies that were planned and indeed wanted, such as those for foetal anomaly, the majority of the women we see were trying to avoid pregnancy when they conceived”.
She said the majority of women from Ireland who had abortions in the UK were using a form of contraception when they conceived. An analysis of 2,703 women from Ireland who were treated at BPAS clinic over a four-year period found they were using the following forms of contraception:
Lohr told the committee that medical abortion accounts for the majority of early terminations carried out on residents in the UK, stating: “Many women prefer it as it is akin to a natural miscarriage, they can avoid an anaesthetic, and they can be at home when the pregnancy passes.”
However, the majority of early abortions provided for Irish women are performed surgically – 71%, compared to 28% for women resident in England and Wales.
Lohr said this is because, for financial and practical reasons, many women travelling from Ireland “often aim to fly in and out of the UK within a day, and as medical abortion involves leaving the clinic after taking the second set of medication and going home to pass the pregnancy, it is not clinically optimal for that to happen on the way to the airport or the flight home”.
“Effectively this means that women from Ireland are in all practical senses denied a choice of method in abortion,” Lohr said.
She also told the committee that three in 10 abortions (31%) carried out in the UK on women from the Republic of Ireland are performed at 10 weeks or later, compared to 20% for women who are resident in England and Wales.
Lohr said the earlier in a pregnancy a termination can be performed the better, both in terms of women’s “physical and mental wellbeing”.
“Reasons for later presentation will include the time it takes to organise travel and make logistical arrangements, particularly for those with work and childcare commitments,” she stated.
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The break is no good if they are still gonna charge interest on them months , which there has not being any official statements made weather they will or not
@Karllye kripton: There will be only one winner in this debacle and that will be the banks. I would rather sit on kerb on the side of the road and beg before I would ask a bank in this country for assistance.
@Karllye kripton: it’s a repayment freeze, you have still borrowed the money so you still owe interest on it. You mortgage isn’t being written off.
@Justin Fay: we know this but even dough you get the break they are going to still look interest for the relief months so Duck them
@Justin Fay: nothing frozen about it. The breaks that have been offered will add thousands to the cost of your mortgage.
@cars: Break alright. Break your bloody heart dealing with them.
@Justin Fay:
Yeah simple, you borrow money and you pay for it. We all have to take responsibility for our actions.
Unless we’re bankers, in which case we’re too big to fail and you just have to bail us out.
Come on Justin, take the boot out of your mouth. We’re still paying for the mistakes of the banking industry, and let’s not forget the tracker mortgage scandal. It’s high time we put these banks in line and tell them “tough, deal with it” and prioritise the public over the bankers.
@David Corrigan: so rather than take a mortgage break for a few months at a very low cost you’d rather beg for passers by on the street? That’s not true
@Karllye kripton:
You can rest assured banks will charge interest on loans for deferral period. They must! Interest income is their bread & butter; wages, empl taxes, rent, rates, plus all other day-to-day op cost clocks keep ticking.
Not forgetting other crucial bank overhead due Mthly/Quarterly of outgoing interest charges; to depositors, to funding providers in wholesale market.
Benefit now to mortgagee is a cash flow, not a cost one. Three to six additional months repayments tagged on to a 20 year mortgage isn’t going to hurt much, is it, in return for valuable breathing space now due to covid19.
Unless of course you’d rather hand over a slice of your house equity in return for a six months freebe now. That would be bad biz for you, but potentially a winner for a bank
@Wheresmyjumper: I’d beg to keep the payments going to them before I’d ask them for help. That’s true.
@David Corrigan: if that is true either you, don’t have a mortgage or are very foolish. Also why should the people you beg from bail you out? But you asked the bank for help to buy your house didn’t you? Why not ask them for help to keep it?
@Wheresmyjumper: Bail out? Who the blazes bailed them out 10 years ago? Listen to the Anglo tapes again and you will hear knackers in charge of a bank. I have a mortgage and I would beg to have the money to make the payments before I would ask the bank for assistance. They should put a three month hold on all mortgages during this crisis and make nothing out of it. They make more than enough charging the highest interest rates in the EU.
@David Corrigan: Everyone makes their own choices. Some will elect to continue paying but for those who can’t the option is there to take a break. Why would anyone would think that the interest wouldn’t continue to be charged?
@Justin Gillespie: Adding thousands more to the bill is not right after what the people did for them. Like I said, they make more than enough with their high interest rates. Stop the payments for 3 months and just extend the term by 3 months.
@David Corrigan: so you have asked them to lend you money to buy a house (this is assistance) but you would rather beg from your neighbours and friends (who have their own problems and probably need to pay their own mortgages) rather than ask the bank for a mortgage break (assistance again). Good logic and I’m sure the people you beg from will have no problem in giving you money so you can stay perched on your high horse
@David Corrigan: it will not add thousands to the bill, that simply is not true. It will delay the payment of thousands but the addition is very modest considering the sums of money involved
@Wheresmyjumper: I said I wouldn’t ask the bank for assistance. I would do whatever it takes to keep the bill paid before I would ask them for help. Why is it so difficult for you to understand that?
@Wheresmyjumper: Nonsense.
@David Corrigan: thats not what they are doing sadly.We have gone interest only for next 3 months.The remaining principle balance will be divided up and spread across the remaining term of the mortgage.20 higher repayments.we still have 20 odd years on our mortgage so its not much but if you had say 5 years left you are in for a higher mortgage repayment.
@Wheresmyjumper: “Irish banks don’t back brave, the three-month mortgage relief scheme isn’t a holiday, to label it as such is propaganda and an offence under the Central Bank code on advertising.
The scheme capitalises the three months on to the debt. That is all. It ought to have been auto-enrolment with an opt out, but Irish banks insisted on creating an underwriting bottleneck which they knew they could not resource, if you cannot figure out why you don’t yet grasp this part of the Irish Deep State and how it functions as a self-protecting organism.” (Eddie Hobbs)
@Trish O’Leary-Dunne: Thanks for explaining how that worked Trish. It’s a tough time for a lot of people. I wish you the best as we navigate through this crisis.
@Rory J Leonard: This is so true. We actually used this “vacation” a couple of years ago due to some serious home repairs we had to do that could not be covered under home insurance…and it is a good low-interest loan versus getting a personal loan which could be up to 10pct. Or using a credit card which could be 10-15% interest. It’s reasonable and over the long run does not increase the monthly payment by too much. It’s worth researching to find out how it will work and how it will be “repaid”.
@David Corrigan: like petty crime, drug dealing, human trafficking? What would be your limit before you would ask for help? Begging is also illegal so how much crime would you commit before swallowing your bank pride?
@Karllye kripton: yup I’d rather just pay my mortgage as normal. People will be charged for this “holiday” as they call it! Cheek a them!banks will always win! I suppose AIB will still charge to go contactless also will they?? AIB are the worst! Utter Robbers on fees and transactions
@Wheresmyjumper: I’d never bow to a bank so you need to understand that, accept it and deal with it. There are plenty of ways of making money without having to pay tax etc. Keep the mortgage paid at all costs and never ask them for assistance. It is a very simple thing to understand.
@cars: don’t take t
@David Corrigan: simple man has simple plan, when you took money off them to buy your house you agreed to their conditions or in other words you bowed to their terms and conditions. Plenty of ways to make money without having to pay tax, like what? Anything legal? Or just cash in hand jobs that defraud the revenue of money needed to fund the nurses and doctors wages? My wife lost her job and we asked the bank for a 3 month break all very easy at minimal cost, no bowing or signing in blood required. A simple legal business transaction
@cars: what makes you say that? The amount that you don’t pay in the 3 months is added on to your remaining payments over the course of your mortgage.
@Trish O’Leary-Dunne: you appear to be one of the few that have actually copped that the 3 months mortgage repayments will be spread over the whole remaining term of the loan, thereafter increasing the monthly mortgage repayment amount…plus that the interest is still charged for the ‘Covid’ 3 months. My initial understanding of this was that the mortgage term would simply be extended by 3 months – which would have been fairer given the circumstances.
@Rory J Leonard: …it’s not “tagged on” to your mortgage…ie – extending the term by 3-6 months. The total amount of your 3 or 6 months “break” is spread over your existing term, therefor increasing your future monthly repayment amount. Extending the mortgage term by the 3 or 6 months would have been fairer, and for many of the mortgagees currently uncertain of their future income it may also be proven to have been more affordable!
It’s not a break. They add on the missed payments to the rest of your payments instead of deferring them to the end of the mortgage. It’s a sham
@Kieran Stafford: Not a sham. Try taking out a personal loan at 10pct versus using a mortgage deferral at 2.5 or 3pct. Do the maths and see how it might help in this crisis.
@Seeking Truth: Of course it works out better than personal loan, while still this is a sham. It’s like if someone was drowning and instead of pulling him out of the water you pushed him a little closer to the shore, but person still drowns.
@Konrad KA: I personally disagree. The banks are not a charity.
I would hope that anyone who could afford partial payments would do so.
This is debt deferral, not debt forgiveness and may cost you thousands more in interest over the term of your mortgage.
Illustrative example: Instead of paying €1500 * 3 months now, you extend your mortgage term by 3 months, i.e. repay these 3 months in e.g. 20 years’ time instead. Borrowing €4500 @ 2.6% interest for 20 years means interest of approx. €2,340.
If your cash flow situation so permits, increase your monthly payments after the payment break in order to greatly reduce this additional interest bill.
What about the vulture funds apparently there still giving there customers the run around pepper finance is just one of them their a disgrace
They should give an interest break as well, not the other way around , as this can be accumulative in the long run
Opened the article thinking I’d stumbled onto the WWN website
I wonder who qualifies for these so called breaks.. surely not everyone off work at the minute.. I have a sneaky feeling the qualifying criteria will rule out most people who’d think they’d qualify.
@Rory Murphy: That’s the whole idea. If you are out of work & can’t afford to pay then you get a break.
@Justin Gillespie: Its the “can’t afford to pay” bit that needs clarification..what’s the criteria for that numerically speaking?
@Rory Murphy: Why not look yourself? it’s in black and white on the banks websites for all to see.
@Andy Fleming: Excellent thanks for that.. just had a quick look on the BOI website..if your mortgage wasn’t in arrears prior to 2020 then you are in the acceptable category .. I wonder how many people’s mortgages were in arrears during the last crash..So it’s in black and white..One thing about Banks…nothing is in black and white..But thank you for your very helpful response.
@Rory Murphy: You would also have to fill out a 375 page form which nobody ever reads. A pure waste of time.
@Rory Murphy: Directly under that it states: (If you need assistance and feel you don’t meet these criteria we may still be able to help you – call us on 01 6113333 lines open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday).
While ambiguous I believe their criteria ‘You were not in arrears prior to March 2020 on any mortgage account or other BOI loan’ applies to accounts in arrears on the 1st of March and not at any period in the lifetime of the account
For this to be anyway worthwhile, the bank need to extend the mortgage term by the 3-6 months now being offered as a break. For example if you had a €2,000 a month mortgage with 15 years left, under the present rules you mortgage repayments will go up to circa €2,050 a month from June onwards. However if the banks extended the mortgage life to 15 years and 3 months ( or 6 if they extend it) then your mortgage repayments would remain at €2,000 ( plus a much smaller increase for interest).
@Fred Frederickson: most people draw down a max term allowable. So extending terms is not possible for the majority of home loans.
@Fred Frederickson: gets even worse if you are in the last 2 years of your mortgage as ours will increase sharply plus the interest I’d sooner eat bags of pasta than extend for a further 3 mts
@sandra clifford: Not really. The closer you are to the end of your mortgage, the less interest you are paying, and the less extra interest you’ll be paying. Someone at the start of their mortgage will be paying interest in a much larger amount and for much longer. At your end of a mortgage, the amount is trivial.
Banks will never loose
@Fiona Weldon: lose
@Fiona Weldon: tracker mortgage how did they not lose there Fiona
@Pádraíg O’hEidhin: overall they won’t loose or lose whatever
@Pádraíg O’hEidhin: the passes the cost on to the variable and fixed rates.
@cars: they lost out on tracker mortgages Jesus just admit it. Whatever there rates are for fixed or variable mortgages doesn’t matter facts are they lost out on funds due to tracker mortgages. I’m sure everyone would love to be on a tracker mortgage now
Pay your mortgage if at all possible. A 6month break at 1000 a month is 6k, 6k with 25 years* interest is going to add thousands to your mortgage. Depends on the length of term you have left. Could be 10 years or 30 years, either way you’ll be paying more in the long run.
People really need to learn how to money manage. Take the 6 month break put that mortgage money to work somewhere else for 6-12 months after this pay a 6 month lump sum on your mortgage keep the returns or even place the returns into your mortgage reducing it. Take the break it’s cheap credit in the short term compared to a personal loan.
@Pádraíg O’hEidhin: absolutely appalling advice. If you can afford to keep paying the mortgage then continue to do so. You are paying interest on a larger sum with every payment month you don’t make.
Encouraging people to take the mortgage break and effectively gamble the mortgage break funds on investments no matter how low in risk is reckless advice at a time of unprecedented global uncertainty. The cost of the mortgage would negate or cost more than any 6 month risk free investment so you are gambling to get a better return.
You didn’t happen to buy a house at the height of boom did ya :)
@Brian: no but I bought 2 places in the city centre during the recession because I knew how to manage money but you do you it’s not gambling it’s investing wisely. If you don’t make your money work for you your losing money due to inflation. My advice is sound but to the nervous average person will think of it as risky and is the same reason why they will find it a-lot harder to better there situation.
It sounds like they are simply waiting until the restrictions are lifted and will then say ” oh it’s all over so no need for the break anymore”.
More control by debt.
When the banks are telling you what the plan is for the next 3 months it’s a sad state of affairs
Do they want a medal…..oh wait no they already have the next bailout cheque in their back pockets, for when the next brown stuff hitting the fans crash happens and they get away again without a scratch financially
The fact that the banks have done this shows the people on the inside are being told the facts and we are being fobbed off as fools who shouldn’t be told the facts just do as we are told while they are. not being held to account , the lockdown is necessary but please stop treating us like plebs
What about freezing rent…landlords getting mortgage froze but still taking rent….come on Ireland catch up with the rest of the world
have your say