Merry Christmas from all of us at the Minimise Project. As 2021 draws to a close, here are some pro-life links you may have missed.

We’ve published posts before encouraging people to get vaccinated as a pro-life act, and discussing the ethical concerns which many have about vaccines (see here, here and here). Our friends at Rehumanize International recently wrote about this in a powerful piece on their blog. The writer makes the obvious but important point that by deciding not to get vaccinated, you greatly increase the chances of passing Covid-19 on to those who are especially vulnerable to the virus. Your decision not to get vaccinated may well cost others their lives. The author gives heart-wrenching examples of people who were unable to access the medical attention they needed because of the high numbers of Covid patients in hospitals. The examples are from the United States but the point is equally relevant to Ireland. The more Covid patients there are in intensive care, the less people with other urgent medical needs can receive the treatment they require. (And yes, I know there was a shortage of hospital beds before the pandemic, but it’s much easier for you as a private citizen to avoid occupying one of those beds than to fix broader problems of HSE resources.)

As with abortion, refusal to vaccinate costs lives; not just the lives of the people who refuse to get vaccinated themselves, but other lives as well. The argument “my body, my choice” doesn’t apply in either of these cases. It doesn’t apply when our choices cause other people to die.

So, if you are not yet vaccinated, please consider changing that. It’s the pro-life thing to do.

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Like ourselves, Students for Life Ireland are a relatively recent addition to the pro-life movement. If you are not already familiar with them, check out their blog and videos. We have given them a shout-out before, but would like to specifically draw your attention to a particular initiative of theirs. They have developed a survey of what supports are available for student parents on college campuses, and are encouraging students to conduct the survey to get a better idea of what resources/facilities most need to be lobbied for. 

Students should not have to choose between continuing their education or having a baby. We as students need to encourage our college administration and our peers to identify, advertise, improve, and expand resources for pregnant and parenting students on our college campuses.

See here for more information. 

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Friend of the blog Destiny of New Wave Feminists

Finally, New Wave Feminists now have a podcast. Hosted by Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa and catchily titled ‘Turn Down Your Stereotype’, the podcast will ‘work to encounter the whole person, not just their labels’. You can read or listen to the first two episodes here. And on the subject of podcasts, a reminder that the first series of our own Minimise Podcast can be listened to in full here.

That’s all folks. See you in the New Year!