“Fuck the canvassing, take the hours!”, to stay on the good side of my boss/take advantage of opportunities. And then, “Why’s it so important to you?”

“Because of the terrible way we treat people.”

“What people?”

“If I need a scan and I’m not on my period, they won’t give it to me for fear of 'harming the unborn'*. If I have an ectopic pregnancy I’ll be lucky if a doctor will give me a cancer drug to remove the cells** - unlucky, and they remove my fallopian tube, sterilising me. The HSE has taken women to court to force them to do what they want, and the ones that don’t go to court and intimidated into doing what the docs want, making for a bad experience.” etc

“If it’s so bad, why didn’t they change it before now?”

“Because it’s in the constitution, and we need a referendum to change it, to move this part of law into legislation instead.”

He quietened a bit, asked when the referendum was on, end of May, and said, “well that’s not too long, and you could try to do both,” after I explained it’s just I couldn’t commit for a few weeks, not that i couldn’t take on extra hours that would suit me.

Like, my dad is not anti-choice. He has said “sure if she can’t afford a baby, let her have an abortion,” and laughed in agreement when someone on the news pointed out that opposing abortion is supporting unsafe abortion. But he didn’t realise how big the impact of the 8th amendment is and why we have to campaign for repeal and replace. I think he gets it now, and there’s no hard feelings. It’s just something I want to note, because it’s a conversation that went well, and I usually dread these things.

(personal growth, yay!)

Plus, I have to say, activism is what makes me happy, of late. I  work, there's nice people there, but this is what I'm interested in, what I want to expend my energy on, and I currently have more flexibility than others to help out atm. I mentioned this to him, but IDK if it registered. Regardless, he gets why this awful amendment needs to go.

*even if I tell them I’ve been celibate, that I’ll sign a waiver, pee on a pregnancy stick, whatever! I wouldn’t get a scan - so to any Irish women who are going for a scan and know they’re not pregnant, lie, say you’re on your period, because I know you need that scan. 

** srsly, should just give me a safe medical abortion drug! but then, in the constitution, the health of the woman is not a priority re: the 8th amendment. Hence the need to repeal and replace.