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“Two women, one procedure, 48 hours away from home.”
So reads the Twitter bio of @TwoWomenTravel, an account set up by a pregnant woman and her friend (not pictured) on Saturday. The purpose? To document their journey from Ireland to the UK for an abortion.
In Ireland, abortion is illegal (unless the mother’s life is at risk). According to figures attained by the ABC via the Irish Family Planning Association, last year alone, 3451 women travelled to the UK from Ireland for the procedure. In single digits: 9 people each day.
The duo shared snaps of their journey – train carriages, hospital rooms and stained sheets. In their words: “We wanted to share the very ordinariness of the situation – we wanted to show it for what it is; a series of waiting rooms, moments in transit, a sequence of tediums protracted by stigma. No filters, no monologues, just the facts.”
The Tweets were directed at Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny; he has remained silent on the matter, but tens of thousands have Tweeted their support for the women, including TV presenter James Corden and prominent Irish journalist Una Mullally.
On returning home, @TwoWomenTravel wrote: “We had to travel because our government insists that we pretend this isn’t happening … Our journey ends here tonight, but the struggle for our reproductive freedom continues. We hope that the outpouring of public support encourages more women to document their experiences, to highlight the issue, and to stand with us in the battle for control over our own bodies.”
SOURCE: BBC
