DUBLIN: Leading Irish actors have urged voters in a video posted online Sunday to legalize abortion in the country, as campaigning intensifies ahead of a referendum later this month on the issue.
The black-and-white video features an ensemble of screen stars voicing their opposition to laws making abortion illegal in Ireland unless there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother.
Women are free to travel abroad for abortions — and thousands do so every year, mainly to England — but they face 14 years imprisonment if convicted of having an illegal termination on the island.
“In Ireland today,” begins “Game of Thrones” actor Liam Cunningham, “if the woman sitting next to you is pregnant” continues local TV star Peter McDonald, “she does not have full rights over her own body” adds Owen McDonnell, famous for playing a fictional police sergeant on Irish TV.
Staring into the camera, a host of other actors — from Cillian Murphy, lead in the BBC hit show “Peaky Blinders,” to Andrew Scott, star of its “Sherlock” series — continue to deliver short messages in the more than two-minute video.
“Why should anyone but me decide what happens to my own body?” Murphy asks.
It concludes with Oscar-nominated actress Saoirse Ronan’s blunt appeal: “Please, vote yes!”
Irish citizens head to the polls on May 25 to decide whether to alter the eighth amendment of the constitution, which recognizes the equal right to life of the unborn and the mother.
There have already been several referendums related to the issue, the first in 1983 which introduced the amendment after a wide margin voted in favor.
A 1992 ballot approved an update to the constitution stating it did not restrict the freedom to travel to another state for an abortion.
Meanwhile a 2013 change in the law, which was not put to a referendum, allowed for the exemption of mothers whose lives are endangered.
The Catholic Church in Ireland has been voicing its opposition to any change in a series of pastoral letters — and urging voters to watch YouTube videos celebrating life.
“It is wrong to terminate life, human life,” wrote Ray Browne, bishop of County Kerry, in one such letter.
“The right to life of the unborn child is a fundamental right. Abortion is wrong.”
If proponents of change prevail at the ballot, a provision will be added to the Irish constitution allowing for “the regulation of termination of pregnancy.”
“How could a person not but be sad to see such a phrase inserted in our Constitution?” Browne asked.
Leading Irish actors have their say prior to abortion referendum
Leading Irish actors have their say prior to abortion referendum
- Black-and-white video features an ensemble of screen stars voicing their opposition to laws making abortion illegal in Ireland.
- Catholic Church in Ireland has been voicing its opposition to any change, in the law, in a series of pastoral letters.
Robbers assault Chinese MP in million-euro Paris burglary
- The Chinese MP was “assaulted in his sleep and reports the theft of several pieces of jewelry ” prosecutors said
- The unauthorized use of a key could be an aggravating factor
PARIS: Thieves attacked a Chinese lawmaker at his Paris home while he was asleep, making off with jewelry and luxury goods worth several million euros, prosecutors said on Friday.
The attack took place overnight Thursday to Friday in the city’s upscale 16th arrondissement, where police found no signs of forced entry, the Paris public prosecutor’s office said.
The Chinese MP was “assaulted in his sleep and reports the theft of several pieces of jewelry and luxury goods,” prosecutors added.
The unauthorized use of a key could be an aggravating factor, it added.
The victim woke after hearing noise and was struck on the head by the burglars before they escaped, a police source said.
The suspects fled with watches, brooches and other valuables, with losses estimated between six and seven million euros ($8.3 million), the source said, adding that the Chinese deputy reported two thieves were involved.
