If I had a choice is created for the repeal the 8th amendment and it was selected and exhibited in April 2018 at the Complex, Dublin.
If I had a Choice
Being a mother is one of the hardest things in the world, it’s a job she doesn’t have an option to quit. Having a child and becoming a parent is a life changing event for everybody. Women should have the option to choose their own 'right time' to become a mother. If a girl gets pregnant at the wrong time, it can cause her life to take a dramatic turn in an unwanted direction. Not every pregnant woman is ready to be a mother, not every new mother is happy to be a mother. Women should have the right to choose to end their pregnancy.
This set of work is a limited edition, it's a total of three editions, and the first edition was sold at the exhibition. Currently only the third edition is for sale.
Poem by Emma Banks
Shame
the sea calls to me
and maybe it calls to me because I am of Ireland
the people of my country are water people
quite often we are gifted eyes the colour of the ocean
we are part of the life giving liquid that surrounds us
but our water runs red with the blood of Irish women
and are putrid with the stink of Catholic shame
what was it they taught us?
oh yeah… in the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit
but don’t forget about Amy, Jenny, Sarah, Aisling, Aoife, Lauren, Alex, Jade, Faye, Ciara, Ailish and Sinéad
twelve women
twelve
twelve today
twelve tomorrow
twelve yesterday
the 8th amendment is for a few not yet conscious cells
to protect
and what does the living breathing mother get?
neglect
the sea calls to me, and to every Irish woman because we have all been failed
our shame does not cross the sea
our shame does not sit with women at all
our shame sits in the dáil