Nikki Hayes has admitted that she was ‘on the fence’ about the upcoming 8th amendment referendum.
The radio show host explained that she was confused about which side she was on, due to the terminology of the debate.
“To be honest with you, I’ve been sitting on the fence for a long time with it,” she told Evoke.
“Just completely confused really. I had sit down and really do my research on it. I think my biggest thing for me was just the [term] unrestricted – every time I saw ‘unrestricted’, I freaked out. I was like, “Are people going to start using this as a form of contraception?”
The 39-year-old said that she felt she was more aligned to the repeal side, due to her thoughts on a woman’s choice.
“Then the more I was looking at the ‘yes’ side, I was like, I have to trust people for their own body because I don’t agree with abortion, I don’t think it’s the right thing to do unless in extreme cases. But do I have the right to tell somebody else what to do? I don’t believe I do.”
“I’m still very confused. I do know that I’m going to vote yes, but it was more so just hearing stories of other people.
“Some people I knew that I didn’t know who had had abortions have spoken out and I was kind of like ‘wow, I know that person and I know they wouldn’t have taken that decision lightly.”
Nikki added that while she believes there are some cases where abortion is needed, she is personally against it.
“I myself said how I didn’t agree with abortion, for me, and somebody said, ‘are you saying that if you had a baby with fatal foetal abnormalities that you’d carry it full term?’ And I said, “yes, I would.”
“Because I’ve had this conversation with myself, and I know I would. My niece was still-born and my sister carried her for nine months, but she still says that for those nine months that she could feel her kicking and stuff inside.”
The mum of four-year-old Farrah says she received abuse online for her comments on continuing an FFA pregnancy.
“I can see it from both sides, but I can see how people have been attacked online. I was attacked for saying that I would carry the baby full term.”
“I certainly won’t be telling people what they can and can’t do with their body, but I do think that there has been some extreme repealers that don’t realise that this is a referendum and that people have a vote and it’s their decision what they vote. It’s been a very heated debate.”
In recent months and weeks, various celebrities have shared their stance on the upcoming referendum.
