Ireland, freedom of speech and freedom to choose.

[FuckingRotter]

Just a bit of background. Sky Television News regularly features journalists from the on line news provider Spiked, which has been campaigning for freedom of speech, and against attempts by parliament in the UK to regulate the press.

Ireland is about to hold a referendum on whether or not abortions should be legalised.

Amid all of this, yesterday I was watching Sky and they featured a pro-choice rally taking place in Dublin, with a counter-demonstration by a pro-life campaigner. The pro-lifer was holding up a large placard in both hands, and a group of women were attempting to surround him and cover up both him and his placard with large bed sheets.

Then I noticed that the words on the placard had been pixelated out, although the pixilation did very briefly lag behind and I was able to read the words. Some thing about abortion being child abuse. Certainly no words that some might deem offensive. No swear words or such like.

So what struck me immediately was that the women attempting to censor this protester were actually being helped by a supposedly politically impartial television news channel. Which I'm pretty fucking certain violates the terms under which they are licensed to operate.

(Of course the whole business of licensing is another discussion altogether!)

It also struck me that a bunch of people expressing a claim to a right to do what they will with their bodys were attempting to deny another person the right to express their opinion. Some thing of a double standard, regardless of ones belief in the subject being "debated".

Any way, none the less, I have read that public opinion in Ireland is generally in favour of abortion, so if the government there actually carries out the wishes of the electorate as expressed in a referendum, they will finally be made to catch up with the rest of the civilised world in this regard.

Don't hold your breath though. They held a referendum on accepting a whole bunch of EU laws a few years ago, the voters told them to get fucked, so the government made them vote again!