Links to today’s show transcripts:
Meet Two of the Activists Behind Ireland’s Historic Vote to Repeal a Ban on Nearly All Abortions
“Free, safe and legal.” That was the slogan for the Abortion Rights Campaign launched by Irish women in 2012 that led to a historic, landslide vote Friday to liberalize the country’s highly restrictive abortion laws. Two-thirds of those who went to the polls voted yes on a referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment of Ireland’s constitution, which was added in 1983 to give equal rights to a woman and an unborn child. By voting yes, supporters also backed legislation, which must still be introduced, to allow women to seek an abortion during the first 12 weeks of their pregnancy. The referendum was sparked, in part, by the high-profile death of Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar, who suffered a miscarriage in an Irish hospital in 2012. Doctors refused her repeated requests for an abortion, because they could detect a fetal heartbeat, and she contracted a fatal infection.
After Ireland’s Historic Abortion Vote, Calls Grow for Abortion Rights in Northern Ireland
In a resounding win for reproductive rights, the Irish electorate voted in overwhelming numbers to liberalize the country’s highly restrictive abortion laws on Friday. Two-thirds of those who went to the polls voted yes on a referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment of Ireland’s constitution, which granted equal rights to a woman and an unborn child. But Friday’s vote will not change abortion access in British-ruled Northern Ireland, where 19th century laws barring the procedure remain in place.
“Don’t Treat Us Like Animals:” Outrage Builds After Border Agent Kills Indigenous Guatemalan Woman
In Guatemala, family members are demanding justice for Claudia Gómez González, the 19-year-old indigenous woman whom a U.S. Border Patrol agent shot in the head and killed last week in Texas near the U.S. border. Border Patrol initially claimed that the shooting occurred after an agent “came under attack by multiple subjects using blunt objects.” The original statement described González as “one of the assailants.” But later the agency changed its story, saying the agent opened fire after “the group ignored his verbal commands and instead rushed him.” However, a resident who lives near where the shooting occured said she never heard the agent yell anything. The Guatemalan Consulate in Del Rio, Texas, is calling for an investigation into González’s death, criticizing the “violence and excessive use of force by the Border Patrol.” At the time of her death, González was headed to Virginia to reunite with her boyfriend.
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