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It’s 8 o’clock on a Wednesday night, in Burnaby Park, on a September evening, and the moon is getting high…
So, it feels somewhat clandestine to be meeting someone in a park this late at night…
It was only when the great Gaye Edwards pointed out that tomorrow’s night Repeal The 8th Amendment gathering at the Hot Spot was a mere 24 hours away that we realised, hey, we better do this interview now.
Repealing the 8th Amendment runs deep with Gaye Edwards, who grew up literally just a stone’s throw from where we’re sitting on this calm evening. Back in 2002, Gaye lost her son, Joshua, to anencephaly – the absence of a major portion of the brain, skull and scalp that occurs during embryonic development – and she had been forced to travel to England to find some “compassion or sympathy”.
Having to travel outside Ireland meant that, for Gaye and her husband, Gerry, there was no real time to grieve, no family support, no funeral. A few days after they returned to Ireland, their son’s remains were delivered to them by courier, in an envelope.
Now with four strapping young kids all hovering around the 10-year-old mark, Gaye Edwards is still fighting for other women’s rights in this country to have an abortion. And right now, that means repealing the 8th Amendment.
Ahead of a talk tomorrow night in The Hot Spot – where Gaye will represent Terminations For Medical Reasons – we spoke about the ongoing struggle to bring Ireland kicking and screaming into the mid-20th century…
You can check out our March 2018 interview with Carol from Grandparents For Repeal here.
2 comments
What date is the vote?
May 25th.