I’ve frequently asked people who travel a lot to tell me what city or country they think is the most beautiful. For cities I haven’t been to myself, Prague is a frequent answer. For countries, it’s Ireland that tops the list. I’d like to go to Ireland because so many people have told me it’s gorgeous.
One thing I never considered when thinking about possible vacation destinations was Ireland’s Eighth Amendment which was repealed by referendum yesterday. It banned abortion even in cases where the health of the mother was at risk.
I also never considered how well-armed their police are:
Advocates for the repeal were also fighting a status quo that was wrapped up in certain conceptions of Irish identity. One 65-year-old man in Dublin, who asked HuffPost not to publish his name, said he believed that women should have the legal right to choose abortion, but he was still emotionally conflicted about which way to vote. “There are so few things that make Ireland unique anymore,” he said. “We don’t allow abortions, and our policemen don’t carry guns. If you start changing those things, what incentive would people have to come visit our country?”
One thing that makes America unique is the frequency of school shootings. If we eliminated them, I suppose there’s a risk that no one would want to visit our country anymore.
