Aaanother Letter

Terms & Conditions

[insert_php] echo do_shortcode(“Terms & Conditions

“); [/insert_php]

[insert_php]_e( ‘Please take the time to read our Terms & Conditions ‘, SBSR_TEXT_DOMAIN ); [/insert_php]

This page is an attempt to assist people to communicate their feelings, about the Citizens’ Assembly Recommendations, to the Minister for Health and to the members of the current Oireachtas Health Committee.

You also might consider sending this letter to your local TD. If your TD is pro-choice, tell them they have your support. If they’re not, explain to them that abortion access is important to you as their constituent.

We have included sample text from RepealEight for you to use.

Feel free to use it while you email, write, or call the members of the Oireachtas Committee.

Committee members or your local TDs are much more likely to be contacted by the anti-choice side, which skews their perception of public opinion. Make sure your pro-choice voice is heard!

Please go to this RepealEight webpage from which a letter to your local TD can easily be sent.

 

Joint Committee on Health – Remit and Membership

This Committee’s primary function is to consider matters of policy and governance for which the Minister for Health is officially responsible as well as considering Government policy relating to bodies which come under the aegis of the Department of Health.

It’s role is to consider such Bills, proposals contained in any motion, Estimates for Public Services or any other matters referred to the Select Committee by the Dáil.

 

Users can email the Minister by clicking “Minister”.

Users can email the Committee members jointly (all at once) by clicking ” All Members of the Committee”
or preferably
individually – click “Show Details….” and then click the individual emails of each Committee member.

 

A suggested letter to which you can add content or from which you can remove content is included and is as follows:

Support the Citizens’ Assembly Recommendations

I am writing as a citizen to ask you to support in full the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly.

Under Ms Justice Mary Laffoy, the Assembly members considered presentations and testimonies from a broad range of medical, legal and ethical experts as well as 17 civil society organisations and the public.

Most importantly the Citizens’ Assembly heard the voices of Irish women and delivered a clear and specific direction to you, our elected representatives.

The assembly recognised the dangerous and profoundly discriminatory impact of the Eighth Amendment for all pregnant women in Ireland.

They voted decisively (87%) that Article 40.3.3 should not be retained in the Constitution and voted instead that:

Article 40.3.3. be replaced with a constitutional provision that explicitly authorizes the Oireachtas to legislate to address termination of pregnancy, any rights of the unborn and any rights of the pregnant woman’.

Furthermore, they voted overwhelmingly to place women’s needs at the centre of any future legislation.

Their recommendations give a very clear direction to the Oireachtas that women’s lives, health and choices must be respected.

They voted overwhelmingly in favour of abortion being available to women across all 13 grounds presented to them on the ballot paper, including:

  • Risk to the health of the woman – 78%
  • No distinction to be drawn between the physical and mental health of the woman 72%
  • Socio-economic reasons – 72%
  • No restriction as to reasons ie. on request – 64%

In effect, the Citizen’s Assembly recommended unequivocally that future laws in this area uphold women’s rights to bodily autonomy and bodily integrity.

They voted overwhelmingly for safe and legal access to abortion services which will allow women in Ireland to make the best decisions possible for themselves and their families without outside interference.

Reproductive rights are human rights.  Since 1980, 170,000 women have been forced to ‘Take the Boat’.  This cannot continue.

I am asking you now as your constituent to stand up for women’s reproductive health and human rights and to support in full the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly.

 

Email:     All Members of the Committee                   Minister for Health 

 




Check up on the busiest Oireachtas Joint and Select committee debates from the most recent week at KildareSteet.com

Email Party/Group Body Web Page
Bernard Durkan Fine Gael Dail listing
Michael Harty Rural Independent Group Dail listing
Billy Kelleher Fianna Fáil Dail listing
Alan Kelly Labour Dail listing
Kate O’Connell Fine Gael Dail listing
Margaret Murphy O’Mahony Fianna Fáil Dail listing
Louise O’Reilly Sinn Féin Dail listing
Colm Burke Fine Gael Senate listing
John Dolan Fine Gael Senate listing
Rónán Mullen Independent Senate listing
Keith Swanick Fianna Fáil Senate listing
Email Party/Group Responsibilty Web Page
Simon Harris     Fine Gael Overall listing
Finian McGrath     Independent Disabilities listing
Catherine Byrne     Fine Gael Communities and the National Drugs Strategy listing
Marcella Corcoran Kennedy     Fine Gael Health Promotion listing
Helen McEntee     Fine Gael Mental Health and Older People listing
Clerk to the Committee: Pat Haran
Email: health@oireachtas.ie
Telephone: (01) 618 3102
076 100 1752Press Officer: Liam O’Brien
Telephone: (01) 618 4484
Mobile: 086 189 5098
Email: liam.obrien@oireachtas.ie / pressoffice@oireachtas.ie
Skip to toolbar