Dear Minister Shatter,
I’m a man. It’s an unavoidable fact of which my penis reminds me of every day. Like many men, my penis and I have a very personal relationship that has grown from the day we were born. We play together, we learn together.
Sometimes I get him to wear a condom, sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I wonder if we’ll grow apart in later life; if he’ll stop standing up for me in hard situations. What if we get a divorce and I decide to cut ties? What if, and it’s a terrible thought, he and his two little buddies get sick and they leave this earth before I do?
The only thing I know for certain is that we’ll make these choices together. We will muddle through life like everyone else, making good and bad decisions, safe in the knowledge that we’ll both be there for each other, always willing to help the other out. And, ultimately, I know that he’d sacrifice himself for me.
Some of my friends are not so lucky. For one, they don’t have a penis – a terrible affliction I’m sure you’ll agree Minister – and most importantly, the relationships they have with their own partners isn’t always as healthy as mine is with my penis. They fight sometimes, even when they don’t want to. They rebel in the early years, causing no small amount of pain, and sometimes when they are carrying out their most important work, they put each other in danger.
Thankfully, my friends can usually escape this danger. A good mediator can come along and bring them back together so that they can start again. But here in Ireland, these mediators aren’t allowed to do their jobs, and sometimes aren’t allowed to help my friends even when they are in danger. Sometimes, someone’s friend will die because of it. My penis and I are glad this hasn’t happened to us yet but, on October 28th, someone’s friend died.
Savita Halappanavar spent two and a half days in agony because she and her partner couldn’t make the choice to part ways as peacefully as possible. Instead, they both left behind a mourning family, a shocked nation of people and the backward country they had come to visit. A country that could have saved her life if only their politicians had had courage to stand up against an outdated religious philosophy and the oppressive legislation it had helped leave behind. She died because 'this is a Catholic country'.
I’m a man. I have the option to choose; don’t deny woman the same right.
Yours Sincerely,
A Man