A chara, – Kitty Holland's role in today's movement to repeal Article 40.3.3 is second to none. Her outstanding honesty and courage are evident in her article of May 1st ("Middle-class politics hijacked the abortion movement", Opinion & Analysis, May 1st). But the headline and her claims that "the Repeal campaign" is "dominated by middle-class identity politics" are incorrect. She does not mention the Trade Union Campaign to Repeal the 8th Amendment, which has the support of the ICTU and the TUC, seven trade unions and three trades councils. Other unions have passed resolutions proposed by campaign supporters. Very active and affiliated to the Coalition to Repeal the Eighth Amendment, our campaign is going from strength to strength, thanks mainly to the work of its women trade unionists. On the recent May Day march in Dublin we distributed a leaflet headed Abortion is a Workplace Issue! The ICTU, Unite and Impact – supporters of our campaign– engaged in the Citizens' Assembly, calling for repeal.
In addition to the work of the trade union campaign, the main coalition is led by and includes many activists from left, community, trade union, immigrant and minority circles who have worked to relate the issues to all women. The current coalition for repeal is diverse and has many voices – around 90 supporting organisations at last count. Solidarity is crucial at this point. We look forward to working more closely with Kitty Holland on giving voice to the marginalised in this important moment in the struggle for reproductive justice for all women and girls living in Ireland. – Yours, etc,
THERESE CAHERTY,
MAGGIE RYAN,
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DES DERWIN,
JOHN MEEHAN,
Trade Union Campaign
to Repeal the 8th,
Cabra,
Dublin 7.