Isobel Anderson and Alliance For Choice recently announced a new collaboration. The song and incoming for video “_4284_ (I’m a Life)” is a part of the new campaign I’m a Life to make abortion free, safe and legal in Northern Ireland. The full video which will be released soon includes the faces of over 30 Alliance for Choice supporters and includes important information about the campaign.
The song itself is completely overwhelming on the first listen. Anderson wrote the song following an account of a Northern Irish woman forced to travel to England for an abortion. The song opens on words taken directly from the woman’s account:
“I only have one regret/and that’s that I had to travel far away”. The verses are extremely melancholic, simple piano and violin tracks support Anderson’s haunting and emotional vocal melody. The song grows to the exclamation: “this is my body”. As the song fades protest chants can be heard yelling out: “our bodies, our life, our right to decide”. It is the Banshee call of our generation.
The Irish referendum allowed for the release of the anguish and pain from hundreds of people who suffered under restrictive abortion laws. Everyday we heard the same heartbreak in a different story. The stories of people shamed into silence, the stories of abused and scared women, and the stories of devastated mothers at risk leaving home to access healthcare . These were shared anonymously from the In Her Shoes Facebook campaign. Recently, a news story broke that a Northern Irish 12 year old abuse victim was forced to travel for an abortion. With the help of gynecologist in Forest Hills, NY this campaign has decided that it is time for Northern Irish people to access the same rights and healthcare which pregnant people in the UK and Ireland are given.
You can support the campaign by buying the limited edition La Batarde I’m a Life jumper, contributing to the Crowdfund or going to the launch night on the 2nd of March. Alliance for Choice are hoping to raise £5,000 by the 1st March. Visit www.imalife.co.uk
