Forces of reaction

“I think there’s a profound misogyny at the root of this referendum. Even if people don’t know what it’s about, they should understand that it must be defeated in order to protect women. If the referendum is passed, as a society we’re moving backwards.

“We’re seeing in the words of the government a real mistrust of women, and a real desire to control women. If the referendum is ratified we’re going to see the anti-abortion movement taking an initiative. It’ll give them a huge boost. They’ll be looking to ban the morning-after pill, they’ll be looking to ban the IUD. We’ll see huge encroachments on women’s rights. These are very dangerous people. They want a position for women in society that is inferior and subordinate.

“The electorate may feel that the referendum is irrelevant. It’s not irrelevant because it sends out a very important symbolic message. Do we want to be a society in which women are given full rights as citizens or not?

“Passing the referendum would also have a more general effect for women and men in Ireland in terms of giving a victory to the forces of reaction.

“We should be clear about this. They are the equivalent of the Taliban in Ireland. Anti-abortion groups are telling us that we should learn from the mistakes of other countries — yes we should, we should learn from the mistakes of countries like Afghanistan and Iran where fundamentalists and misogynists were allowed to take control, and we should make sure that they’re not allowed to take control in this country.”