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It is exactly one month until a referendum on abortion is held in the Republic of Ireland, where it is almost impossible for a woman to have a legal termination.聽

At the moment, the Eighth Amendment of the Irish constitution, introduced in 1983, gives equal right to life to the mother and the unborn child.

Abortion is only available when a mother's life is at risk and it is illegal even if there is a fatal foetal abnormality, or in the case of rape or incest.

Here, writer and campaigner, Helen Linehan tells Sky News why she and her husband, the 'Father Ted' creator Graham Linehan, believe it should be overturned following their experience.

When I became pregnant soon after I got married, I was so excited.

My husband and I, were living in London at the time and couldn't wait to share the news with our families in the UK and in Ireland (despite our joyless GP who told us not to tell anyone too soon because 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage).

Ignoring our grumpy GP, we had lunch with family and showed them our recently assembled wedding album.

I had a glass of Ribena disguised as wine to throw them off the scent and tried desperately not to puke as morning sickness had taken hold.

On the last page of the album I had drawn a goofy picture of a baby and written WE ARE HAVING A BABY!

My folks screamed with delight. This would be the first grandchild on both sides of our families.

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But our 12 week scan changed the mood. The sonographer was quiet. There was a problem. She couldn't detect the top of the baby's head. I numbly replied to texts asking me how it went.

The next day I had an internal scan confirming a fatal condition called Acrania. The skull had not closed over the top of the baby's head.

The obstetrician was compassionate and explained that while the baby would grow in my womb, it would not
survive birth.

We were offered a termination.

Devastating, yet I did not know how lucky I was. Lucky to be living in the UK.

I had to wait three days before my appointment to have the termination.

I was still gripped by morning sickness as I was wheeled into theatre. The NHS staff were compassionate and respectful. I was offered counselling and my second pregnancy was monitored closely.

If I had still been living in Ireland, I would have had no choice but to continue with the pregnancy. Nine months of growing. Nine months of knowing that my baby was not going to survive.

In Ireland, medical staff are not permitted to give any advice on termination in any circumstance. Procuring an abortion in Ireland carries a 14-year prison sentence.

Since campaigning to change this law I have met many Irish women who have similar stories to mine but their outcome was so much different.

Women who had to jump hurdles to access the health care they needed in the UK. Women who went through labour and held their dying babies.

Women who did not want to spend months carrying a doomed pregnancy. These women are given no medical guidance because it is against the law.

I have met women who googled clinics in the UK. Made their own booking. Women who had to scrape the money together for flights. Women who had their baby's ashes posted back to them in a jiffy bag.

There are also women who find themselves with unwanted pregnancies who drink bleach or seek 'back street abortions' because of the cost to travel.

Women who cannot discuss their predicament. Women and men who need counselling but are afraid to talk.

The anti-choice movement portray us in the UK as a nation of terminators, aborting our babies in our lunch breaks.

There's a myth that some women use abortion as a form of contraception. A term I heard used was "recreational abortion".

The truth is, nobody wants to have an abortion. It's a horrible, intrusive and devastating procedure.

Nobody wants to talk about it either, but whatever your opinion, abortion will always be part of our society. Criminalising it just makes it more difficult and dangerous.

Since sharing my story publicly, I've had so many people contact me in support and to share their heart-breaking stories.

I've also had my timeline on Facebook hijacked by people who branded me a murderer and I've had diagrams of the abortion procedure sent to me on twitter. Thankfully this doesn't happen often.

On average, 12 women a day travel to the UK from Ireland to access safe and legal abortions.

I repeat. Nobody wants to have an abortion. Nobody wants to talk about it but it will always be part of society.

This referendum is so important. If you're resident in Ireland this May, please register to vote and vote yes to change and give Irish women the dignity and trust they deserve when dealing with this deeply traumatic situation.

Please.

Repeal the eighth.

:: This is part one of a two part series looking at the arguments of both side's in the abortion referendum.