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Crossing U.S. Borders While Pregnant: An Increasingly Complex Reality
Author(s) -
ReedSandoval Amy
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
hastings center report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.515
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1552-146X
pISSN - 0093-0334
DOI - 10.1002/hast.893
Subject(s) - repeal , referendum , irish , abortion , context (archaeology) , constitution , politics , law , political science , reproductive rights , reproductive health , sociology , population , pregnancy , history , philosophy , linguistics , archaeology , biology , genetics , demography
In response to the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of Ireland, which states that the fetus and the mother have equal rights to life and that nearly all abortions are therefore illegal, many Irish feminists sported luggage tags that read “HEALTHCARE NOT AIRFARE.” The expression—which recently became a popular twitter hashtag for pro‐choice citizens of Ireland leading up to the historic referendum to repeal that abortion ban—refers to the fact that pregnant women from Ireland have long been forced to travel to other European countries in order to legally terminate their pregnancies. In the United States, there is also a deep and challenging relationship between borders and reproductive health. However, that relationship is not understood as clearly as it appears to be in the Irish context. We urgently need to pay careful attention to the interconnections between U.S. border politics and reproductive health care access and to take concrete steps to address resultant injustices .