Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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Repeal the 8th: a landmark step forward for Irish women
Yes campaigners celebrate in Dublin Castle as Ireland has voted to repeal the 8th Amendment of the Irish Constitution which prohibits abortions unless a mother's life is in danger.
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
Special report by PEOPLE’S WORLD
NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
ON Friday May 25, the Republic of Ireland voted in a referendum to repeal the eighth amendment, introduced in 1983, which prohibits and criminalises abortion by claiming to recognise an equal right to life between a pregnant woman and a foetus.
The vote, with 64 per cent in favour, followed a huge campaign by feminist groups and the labour movement to improve women’s rights by allowing abortions.
While the Irish parliament still has to bring in a law on the matter, the referendum’s success means that women in Ireland may be able to access legal abortions there as opposed to being turned into criminals.
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As peers prepare to debate reform of the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi leads a bid to end the criminalisation of women who end pregnancies at home. LYNNE WALSH reports
As Ash Regan’s Unbuyable Bill sparks debate in Scotland, the real issue remains unaddressed: a digitalised sex industry and a neoliberal economy that repackages exploitation as empowerment while leaving women’s material conditions unchanged, argues LAUREN HARPER
