In Ireland, abortions are illegal unless a woman's life is endangered. And because women seeking abortions in Ireland face up to 14 years in prison -- even in cases of rape or incest -- 4,000 women leave Ireland every year to have abortions elsewhere. A number of pro-choice groups are working to change that. In part by live-tweeting their periods to politicians.

According to a report from the BBC, in addition to getting over 47,000 signatures on a petition to repeal the eighth amendment of Ireland's constitution (which bans abortions), a comedian named Grainne Maguire recently started tweeting the country's Prime Minster Enda Kenny about the details of her period, encouraging others to do the same because "we know how much the Irish state cares about our reproductive parts."

Other women quickly joined the twitter storm to give the Prime Minister critical updates on the details of their periods using the hashtag #repealthe8th.

Earlier this year, Amnesty International issued an extensive report on the effects of Ireland's restrictive abortion laws, condemning them for violating human rights.

"The human rights of women are violated on a daily basis because of a constitution that treats them like child-bearing vessels," said Amnesty International's Secretary General, Salil Shetty. "Women who need abortions are treated like criminals, stigmatized and forced to travel abroad, taking a serious toll on their mental and physical health."