May, a pregnant teenager, travels to the UK with her best friend Cathy in order to have an abortion. The two Irish teens have a conversation about their feelings, and the distress of the situation for May is palpable, especially since she has felt unable to tell even her mother.
Background
This short film was created during the “Repeal the Eighth” campaign in Ireland during 2018 as a collaboration between Playacting Youth Theatre and Kildare Young Filmmakers.
The aim of this short film was to highlight how the Abortion Debate was less about right versus wrong, and more about the lives that the Referendum would effect
The Abortion referendum had always been a contentious debate in Irish History, largely due to Ireland’s staunch Catholic past. Attempts to amend the Irish constitution to allow Abortion had been made since 1983 but were unsuccessful. Due to the death of Savita Halappanavar in 2012 the debate was given new life.
After years of Marching and outcry, a referendum on Abortion was held in 2018. The Irish people voted by 66% to remove the Eighth Amendment which stated an unborn fetus had the same rights as the Woman who carried it. The success of the referendum in making abortion legal was a huge step forward for Ireland, however, it seems access to abortion services in Ireland is still limited.
