Money woes limit Irish abortion options

Many countries are condemned in the West for organised religion and its effect on peoples lives. Societies throw their arms up in horror if countries like Iran or Afghanistan deny women basic rights. They tend, however, not to mention Ireland. In Ireland, a woman cannot have an abortion if she has been raped. She cannot have an abortion if the man who made her pregnant is beating her. She cannot have an abortion if the baby will die outside her body. She cannot even have an abortion if the fact of being pregnant is in some way threatening to her life. The absolute ban on abortion in Ireland creates some very stark choices for women. The choice has traditionally been for women to travel, often alone, to England for a termination. There is just one small organisation which exists to help women who want an abortion but cannot afford it, but it is in England. Requests for financial help have tripled in three years, mirroring Ireland's financial crisis, as women discover they are pregnant with a baby they cannot support and with no recourse to help where they live. Al Jazeera's Laurence Lee reports from Dublin.