Unlike the UK, abortion remains illegal in the Republic of Ireland.
Because of this, many young women in Ireland are forced to carry on with pregnancies or fork out hundreds of pounds to fly to the UK to undergo the already often emotionally loaded procedure.
Irish writer Roisin Ingle has bravely spoken out about her experience of abortion in an attempt to end stigma surrounding the subject.
She wrote in the Irish Times: “Like tens of thousands of women in Ireland and like hundreds of thousands of women around the world I am glad and relieved and not at all ashamed that I once had an abortion.
“My abortion is part of my story, part of who I am. But it is just one part of my life: I was divorced. I have two children. I am messy and domestically challenged. I have a tendency to lose things. I like chips. (Probably too much.) I cry easily.
“I had an abortion.”
Roisin then writes that over 150,000 have been estimated to have left Ireland in order to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.
“I think it’s wrong that these women were not able to access abortion in their own country. It is estimated that 12 women leave Ireland every day to get terminations in other countries. I want to stand up in solidarity with them and be counted.”
She then describes the circumstances within which she became pregnant.
“It happened before I met the man who would become the father of my children. It happened after my previous relationship, a five-year marriage, had broken up.
“I was flailing around in self-loathing mode. Going out too much. Drinking too much. It happened one night. I should have been more careful. He should have been more careful. I didn’t think it would ever happen to me. And then it did.”
Roisin goes on to describe how she felt like a ‘criminal’ a she went about booking her travel to England in order to terminate her pregnancy.
Luckily, Roisin was able to split costs with the other party involved, but many women are forced to cover costs alone in order to fund an journey to England.
She added: “I booked the clinic. There was no faltering. No indecision. I went to sleep that night relieved and unburdened. It was over. My life could carry on the way it was before. I was going to try to be more careful in future.”
Roisin is now happily married with children, but abortion still remains illegal in Ireland.
If you want to find out more about abortion and family planning, visit www.mariestopes.org.uk