The Abortion Rights Campaign
The Abortion Rights Campaign (ARC) is a grassroots all-volunteer group dedicated to achieving free, safe and legal abortion care everywhere on the island of Ireland, for everyone who wants or needs it. ARC was one of the three core groups that formed the civil society organisation Together for Yes, which successfully campaigned for a Yes vote in the referendum to repeal the 8th amendment from the Irish constitution in May 2018.
ARC continues to work at a grassroots level to promote stigma-busting around abortion, community and public education, pro-choice visibility in the media and policy work geared towards ensuring abortion legislation provides free, safe and legal care for all.
ARC also organises the annual March for Choice, which has taken place in Dublin every year since 2012. We have a network of regional groups all over the island of Ireland – find your local group here.
The Aims of the Abortion Rights Campaign
To promote support for stigma-free access to free, safe and legal abortion care in Ireland under the current Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill; to advocate for greater access to abortion care in future; to push for the introduction of extensive abortion legislation in Northern Ireland, and to ensure the health of people in pregnancy is protected in line with international human rights standards
To educate the public and policy makers about the need to expand the right to legal abortion care.
To lift the stigma and silence surrounding abortion and reproductive healthcare choices through educational programmes and awareness raising projects, and by facilitating people to share their abortion experiences in supportive and empowering environments.
To educate the public and policy makers about the need for access to free, safe and legal abortion options in Ireland for all who need it, regardless of citizenship or financial capacity, in line with provision of other basic healthcare options.
To continue to mobilise support nationally from a diverse range of groups, organisations, trades unions, communities and individuals for the right to choose in pregnancy.
To promote the provision of relevant up-to-date information to support evidence-based policy-making and to challenge anti-choice rhetoric that threatens reproductive freedom.
We believe women and all people who can get pregnant can be trusted to choose for themselves. So do the majority of people in Ireland.
However, in Ireland and Northern Ireland, there are many barriers to women’s full reproductive rights.
If we work together, we can dismantle these barriers so that people can make their own decisions, for themselves.
Abortion Rights Campaign Events Code of Conduct
We ask all attendees of our Open Meetings and other events to adhere to the following Code of Conduct.
- This code of conduct was written to help create a comfortable, respectful atmosphere for all pro-choice activists attending our meetings.
- We aim to, in as far as possible, adhere to the planned agenda of the event.
- We aim to listen respectfully and speak without aggression to each other. When we interact in groups we will not dominate discussions with claims of authority, or experience, or privilege. We will be aware of others who may not have spoken yet. Where we do disagree, we will do so without the intention of silencing others.
- We aim to be aware that our choice of words may affect people who have sought abortions. We recognise that people choose abortion with careful consideration. We aim to use language that is sensitive to their experiences.
- We recognise that the most oppressed groups in society are women, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, trans people, and queer-identifying people. Therefore, we aim not to use language which offends anyone on the basis of their gender identity, ethnic identity, class, ability, sexual identity, or body.
- We agree that our events are not aligned to any political party. We welcome those of all political parties and none. We agree not to distribute party political literature at our events.
- For more information on ARC’s values, please see our Values and Inclusivity Statement.
Get involved in the campaign today.
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