BeLonG To Youth Services Campaigns To Repeal the 8th

BeLonG To Youth Services Campaigns To Repeal the 8th

BeLonG To Youth Services is proud to campaign for a repeal of the 8th Amendment in the upcoming referendum on May 25th. Alongside fellow youth organisations, the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) and Spunout.ie, over the coming weeks we will be campaigning to remove this restrictive law from the Irish Constitution. By campaigning for a ‘yes’ vote in the upcoming referendum we are saying yes to an Ireland where the health and well-being of every pregnant person is treated with compassion and dignity.

Lack of access to safe and legal abortion is an issue for the young people we work with, and we will be campaigning for a more compassionate Ireland that provides abortion care to those who need it. LGBTI+ young people are effected by unplanned pregnancies. According to international research¹, unplanned pregnancy among younger same-sex attracted women is much higher than among their heterosexual peers.

BeLonG To Executive Director Moninne Griffith said: “We saw the significant impact the youth vote had on the Marriage Equality referendum in 2015, and we hope to see a similar turnout in the upcoming referendum on the removal of the 8th Amendment to the Constitution. It is vital all young people are registered to vote so they can have their say on one of the most important human rights issues of a generation.”

¹ Mooney-Somers, J, Deacon, R, Comfort, J (2010) Women in contact with the Perth gay and lesbian community: Report of the Women’s Western Australian Sexual Health (WWASH) Survey