By Used2bSnowwhite
‘This is very unfair, I’ll have to wait until next year to buy my upgrade Rolex’, said a downtrodden Irish GP twiddling his bowtie and waving his placard outside Boots pharmacy. The Irish GP was a representative of minority group, ‘Irish Doctors looking to keep inflated fees’, and were fighting for their rights outside Boots pharmacy chain.
Abortion may not be legal in Ireland but at least with UK Pharmacy chain Boots, the option for women to obtain the MAP (morning-after-pill) has just gotten easier and safer.
Ireland is a backwards country so stringent that obtaining emergency contraception, for example, on a Sunday is a nightmare between running around finding a GP’s surgery that is actually open, paying 60 euros and then forking another €10.00 for the pill at the pharmacy. Stressful, expensive and never mind that an Irish doctor can refuse you the morning-after-pill on ‘moral’ grounds which was a recent case in Co Kerry last year.
One friend of mine living in Cobh four years ago went to the local GP for the morning-after pill only to be criticised for her request. He subsequently started lecturing her on her morals and that she should go on her knees to pray. Instead of his listening to the rest of the lecture she fled the surgery only to have to travel to Cork city, a distance of 25 km and she was lucky she had her own car unlike a lot of young women in rural areas.
Sure, ‘tis a hard life for Irish doctors, you know, the average salary can be €220,000.00 *and upwards per year. One can only imagine the impact the loss of these essential prescription fees on their lives and hopefully they will be well-compensated for this. They could for example, start off with a letter-writing campaign with Amnesty International, twitter updates, an online petition and a boycott against ‘2 for 1’ products in Boots, etc.
The Irish state continues to ignore the dangers they create for its citizens with its hypocritical and backward nature regarding contraception and especially abortion. A few years ago, reports were released that found the black market version of mifepristone or RU-486 was seized by gardai in Dublin and the confiscation by the IMB (Irish Medicines Board) of the abortion pill. When women are desperate enough to try unsafe medicine the pressure should be put on the Department of Health to ensure safe access to medicine. Now the MAP initiative has come into force through a legal loophole that the Health service knew about for years. Boots are now able to dispense prescription-only medications once they have the direction of a GP to do so and this came from Boots own medical director, a GP. Boots being the corporation will ignore the hissing of general practitioners and legal warnings of the incumbent Dept of Health who could have allowed such a simple practice to take place years ago.
Dr Mel Bates of the group, Irish College of General Practitioners huffed about the new regulation saying:
“My concern is that the company is cherry picking those who know they probably are not pregnant. In the GP setting, we make them aware that the morning-after pill may be unnecessary in their cases and then they make their own decision."
Em, what? Do the GPS have a crystal ball that tells you within 72 hours whether you are pregnant without taking the MAP? I don’t remember reading about that scientific breakthrough. How on earth do GPS make them aware that it’s unnecessary?
Surely the only way you are not pregnant is if you haven’t had sexual intercourse but otherwise if you have had unprotected sex, the condom broke etc; it’s a good precaution to buy the MAP.
Boots reasonable answer to the doctor’s representative was that: they have a private consultation room to discuss safe sex, contraception and prevention against STI’s; it’ll be a service similar to the GP’s; less stressful and more affordable. Simply, the same service but without having to pay two qualified medical professionals for the same medicine. And really how many weekends would you like to spend your time with a pharmacist explaining the obvious?
Listening to another reason for keeping the MAP’s fees with General Practioners, the doctor from the ICGP was this:
“The moment you increase access to any service, you increase demand for it”.
Well I did pop into the local Boots after hearing the riot news but there was no clamouring of wanton women climbing over the counter, running off with the pill and running after every man they could find. There was a queue for a very good deal on make-up palettes and perfumes though.
In wake of the UK chain’s announcement the IPU (Irish Pharmacy Union) have agreed that other pharmacies should follow suit which is good news for women in rural areas. Even though Boots and other pharmacies have stated they are making it affordable the cost of the pill here will be €45.00 as opposed to £24.99 in the six counties. The cost of contraception in the land of backwardness is still the highest in Europe.
Meanwhile back at the protest with the minority group, ‘Doctors for over-inflated fees…’
• Figures based on GP salaries income from medical card holders’ fees released from the HSE 2009.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
European court of Human Rights state the obvious re ABC Abortion case V Ireland
The ECHR announced on December 16th 2010 that the woman known as ‘C’ who was suffering from Cancer and fell pregnant had her human rights violated. The fact that she was unable to receive abortion treatment in Ireland was a violation ofArticle 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights – the right to respect one’s private and family life. Well the Irish have never very good at minding their own business anyway so we needed a telling-off there from mainland Europe. She was one of three women supported by the IFPA (Irish Family Planning Association) who took the case against Ireland but ‘A’ and ‘B’ were unable to win their cases. The other woman ‘A’ suffered with alcoholism, unemployed, in poverty and had four children already which social welfare had taken from her due to her condition. As she recovered, it was possible that ‘A’ could be reunited with her children and she didn’t want to risk another pregnancy affecting her chances of a successful recovery. The woman known as ‘B’, had an unplanned pregnancy and was informed that she was at risk of an ectopic pregnancy. She took the safe option of abortion but had to travel to England like the others.
The hearing overall has been welcome news to pro-choice supporters however it does not change the law in Ireland and thank goodness for that, waffles outdated government officials after hearing the result.
Our former radical minister for Health, Mary Harney, said the government would have to “reflect carefully”, on the issue i.e. dodge the bullet until the next government gets elected. This is the same coward who was responsible for the two-tiered Health service in Ireland which if you can’t afford insurance, you’re going to have to wait no matter how serious your condition including life-threatening illnesses. This minister loved her private healthcare service so much she didn’t mind hearing reports of people being left to die on hospital trollies.
Unfortunately for pro-choice campaigners and activists the results left militant pro-life group, ‘Youth defence’, on the war path calling a demonstration on the following Saturday outside the GPO and a family planning clinic in Dublin city centre. And there’s nothing like extreme zealots running up and down the streets interrupting my shopping afternoon, I’ll have you know. (See pictures attached.) The group lined along O’Connell Street with graphic posters and had also set up a makeshift crib with a Legion of Mary group handing out rosary beads, crosses and cards and praying for ‘lost’ babies at Christmas. There were no displays or prayers of sympathy for the women at the ABC case. According to these demonstrators who are holier-than-thou, those harpies will not be making it to heaven.
The result has been good news for pro-choice groups and the IFPA who supported the case but be warned, extremists will be out with shock propaganda if a referendum is going to be called for. Everyone on the green isle should batter down the hatches and prepare for assault from pro-lifers and religious fundamentalists in the near future.
Link:
http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?action=html&documentId=878721&portal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649
The hearing overall has been welcome news to pro-choice supporters however it does not change the law in Ireland and thank goodness for that, waffles outdated government officials after hearing the result.
Our former radical minister for Health, Mary Harney, said the government would have to “reflect carefully”, on the issue i.e. dodge the bullet until the next government gets elected. This is the same coward who was responsible for the two-tiered Health service in Ireland which if you can’t afford insurance, you’re going to have to wait no matter how serious your condition including life-threatening illnesses. This minister loved her private healthcare service so much she didn’t mind hearing reports of people being left to die on hospital trollies.
Unfortunately for pro-choice campaigners and activists the results left militant pro-life group, ‘Youth defence’, on the war path calling a demonstration on the following Saturday outside the GPO and a family planning clinic in Dublin city centre. And there’s nothing like extreme zealots running up and down the streets interrupting my shopping afternoon, I’ll have you know. (See pictures attached.) The group lined along O’Connell Street with graphic posters and had also set up a makeshift crib with a Legion of Mary group handing out rosary beads, crosses and cards and praying for ‘lost’ babies at Christmas. There were no displays or prayers of sympathy for the women at the ABC case. According to these demonstrators who are holier-than-thou, those harpies will not be making it to heaven.
The result has been good news for pro-choice groups and the IFPA who supported the case but be warned, extremists will be out with shock propaganda if a referendum is going to be called for. Everyone on the green isle should batter down the hatches and prepare for assault from pro-lifers and religious fundamentalists in the near future.
Link:
http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?action=html&documentId=878721&portal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649
Thursday, January 20, 2011
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