In 1935, Erwin Schrödinger conceptualised a thought experiment involving a cat, a radioactive substance and a sealed box. One common interpretation asserts that until the box is opened by an observer, the cat exists in a state of being both dead and alive. Schrödinger was invited to Dublin by De Valera in 1939, leading to the creation of what can be dubbed as ‘Schrödinger’s facts’, essentially, facts that can be both seen and unseen simultaneously.
An example of this concept can be found in the abortion figures for 2023, revealing that a minimum of 10,033 abortions were performed, marking a significant increase from the 8,156 documented in 2022. These figures from 2023 are approximately equal to the total population of either Dungarvan in County Waterford or Ratoath in County Meath in 2022.
It cannot be denied that these figures are hidden since the legalisation of abortion, as they are recorded and published annually by the government, albeit in a basic manner. However, it also cannot be insisted that these figures are entirely conspicuous, since a mutual understanding seems to exist that disregards these figures. Corresponding to the population of an Irish town, abortions can be conducted without any evident requirement for a dialogue.
It raises a question whether Simon Coveney will ever be questioned about his part in approving the referendum that resulted in an increase in abortions.
If the term ‘food noise’ is unfamiliar to you, it’s likely you don’t require Ozempic. We don’t have to encourage Irish women to have more children, although some might want to.
It must be noted that Breda O’Brien brings up the ‘spiral of silence’ present in Irish and European politics.
We were assured multiple times during the campaign that the abortion numbers would not escalate. This was an essential factor in persuading the neutral voters.
In 2017, the number of Irish women who travelled to England and Wales for abortion procedures was 3,019, dramatically less than the 6,673 in 2001. Thirty-four additional women travelled to the Netherlands. At the time, in 2018, the health minister, Simon Harris, stated that three women per day were resorting to illicit abortion medications, totaling about 1,095 annually. Only fifteen procedures were conducted under the 2013 law, including five life-saving surgeries for mothers, which were always legal. The estimated total was around 5,000 procedures. However, the number has surged since then, with 6,666 in the following year and now, an increase to 10,033.
One key influencer in the change of public opinion was Simon Coveney, who recently stepped down from his position in politics. He was pivotal in encouraging individuals who were opposed to abortion except in severe cases to vote in favour of the new legislation. Although he was initially against abortion, he later changed his position, arguing for an “informed consent” protocol that would necessitate a doctor to provide all available information and options to a woman seeking an abortion. Unfortunately, this hasn’t happened yet.
He also proposed the introduction of a ‘pause period’, a recommendation that faces an increasing threat. He was of the opinion that in the absence of the system he envisioned, women would either resort to travelling to the UK or acquiring abortion pills online.
His argument essentially suggested that repealing existing laws would halt Ireland from exporting its abortion issue, a popular campaign slogan that politically influential individuals won’t have to justify, despite the doubling figures.
With Coveney’s departure from politics, it remains to be seen who will hold him accountable for his part in facilitating a referendum that saw an impressive increase in abortion procedures. However, in Ireland, there isn’t a responsibility to question whether women are voluntarily opting for abortions or being compelled by increased living costs and a housing shortage.
Coveney is lauded for his handling of Brexit’s aftermath in his role as tánaiste and minister for foreign affairs. Comparing this to the contentious and divisive nature of the referendum campaign offers intriguing insights.
The defeated Brexit side is never informed that the public’s verdict must be accepted. They’re also kept in the dark about former TD Kate O’Connell’s 2018 statement, amplified upon her re-emergence in politics following Leo Varadkar’s exit as taoiseach. She boldly asserted, “We emerged victorious. We’ll have it our way … You can speak until you’re blue in the face … You didn’t win. It must be agonizing.”
Consider the recent, justified thrashing of the Conservative Party, for instance. David Cameron’s ex-head of communications, Craig Oliver, pointed out a stark revelation: “We’ve learned that you cannot promise Brexit will cut down on immigration and then experience it double … while still expecting the public to pay attention.”
In Ireland, a country graced with Schrödinger’s alternative facts, one can claim that abortion rates will not escalate and yet have no one to answer to when they double.
No one is required to ask whether women are voluntarily opting for abortions or compelled to by a cost of living crisis and insufficient housing. It is safe to assume that no one will probe you with uncomfortable questions, unless it is about your plans to widen access to abortion.
The lesser-known fact that Schrödinger, a serial sexual predator, drove one of his victims into a dangerous abortion rendering her infertile is seldom brought up. Another commonly overlooked point is the intent behind Schrödinger’s theoretical experiment, a reductio ad absurdum, to dispute the theory of physicists like Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg that a particle’s position is not settled until measured.
His depiction of a cat that’s both alive and dead concurrently was meant to expose a deficiency in the theory. Whatever the case is, it could not possibly lack as much as Irish Schrödinger’s facts which have a scarcity of scrutiny, discourse, and answerability.