June 12th: Commenting today on figures released by the UK Department of Health showing that over 3,500 Irish women had to travel to the UK to obtain an abortion last year, Unite Regional Equalities Officer Taryn Trainor pointed out that many more women are unable to make that journey and she repeated the union’s call for the 8^th Amendment to be repealed.

“Each woman who had to travel to obtain a procedure which should be safe and legal in their home country is an indictment of the Irish state”, Ms Trainor said.

“The figure of 3,500 is likely to be an underestimate of the actual number of Irish residents who travelled to the UK for a termination last year.

“And we also need to remember that thousands more women are unable to make the journey – for example, women on low incomes, women with disabilities or women who are too ill to travel”, Taryn Trainor pointed out.

“In 2013 there were over 3,500 reasons to repeal the 8^th amendment – and over 150,000 reasons since 1980.

“Abortion must be de-criminalised and Article 40.3.3 repealed as a first step to enabling women to access safe, legal and affordable terminations in Ireland”, Ms Trainor concluded.