KeyesSide Almost 4,000 Irish women travelled to England and Wales for abortions last year.  Think about it, that’s roughly half the population of Dungarvan.
Of those 3982 Irish residents, 45 were from Waterford city and county, 34 of  whom declared themselves single, with eight from that figure married.
Nine of those women, or 20 per cent of the Waterford total, were aged under 20  and of those 45 women, eight had previously had abortions.
Elsewhere in the south east, 101 women in Tipperary, 37 from Kilkenny, 78 from  Wexford and 36 from Carlow travelled across the Irish Sea for abortions.
It should also be noted that the UK Department of Health statistics state that 889 women from the overall total didn’t state which county in the Republic they were from, so the true figure from the region may well be higher.
Women from every county in this State made the trip across the Irish Sea last year, which, in statistical terms alone, illustrates that abortion is an issue that, knowingly or unknowingly, affects most communities.
The tortuous, confusing and at times hyperbolic nature of the debate surrounding the recently passed Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill created a foggy, misleading and largely unhelpful narrative.