The Important Reason Two Women Live-Tweeted Their Trip to Get an Abortion
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Two Irish women gained international attention for taking a trip common to many of their peers.
Using the Twitter handle @TwoWomenTravel, the women documented their trip to the U.K. to obtain a legal abortion, because the procedure is strictly prohibited in their home country.
Center for Reproductive Rights
Many of the tweets tagged Taoiseach Enda Kenny, the prime minister of Ireland, who set up constitutional convention to debate the issue of abortions, according to the Irish Examiner.
The account tweeted a journal entry with a statement of solidarity:
The tweets outline the physical toll of the long journey and the expense for the women to enter another country for an abortion.
The two women also reported seeing other Irish women in their waiting room.
The tweets highlight the physical pain of traveling back to Ireland after an abortion procedure.
They concluded the live tweets by thanking supporters and appealing for change.
The two women even received support from British comedian James Corden.
The journey these two Irish women took for abortion access mirrors the journey many American women make in certain parts of the United States. Although abortion is a constitutionally protected right in the U.S., states with anti-abortion politicians have passed laws to severely limit access.
A controversial South Carolina law bans abortion after a woman has been pregnant for 20 weeks, forcing many women to get abortions out of state.
The law, signed by Gov. Nikki Haley in May, does not make exceptions for rape or incest, according to CNN.
Pregnancy related deaths doubled in Texas after restrictive regulations forced many abortion clinics to close, according to New York Magazine. The U.S. Supreme Court recently deemed those restrictions unconstitutional.
Other states use a combination of waiting periods, mandatory counseling, parental consent and abortion term restrictions to keep women from getting abortions. The Center for Reproductive Rights lists these states as the hardest to get abortions: Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Utah.
