"Abortion has been a fact of Irish women's lives for centuries, just as it has been and continues to be for women elsewhere".

Authors Avatar
"Abortion has been a fact of Irish women's lives for centuries, just as it has been and continues to be for women elsewhere" (The Abortion Papers Ireland, pg. 4)

However, in Ireland the Constitution has held a scrupulous control over women's availability to abortion. Over the past fifteen years in particular, the Abortion debate has been paramount in this country. It is something that brings astonishment to fellow Europeans, along with the ongoing debate over the morning after pill. Contraception was banned in Ireland up until the 1960's, the women's movement brought it to the fore and following much controversy it is now it is widely available. Traditional ideologies and practices were challenged and the outcome was greater freedom of choice and liberation for women. It was a group referred to as the Irish Women's Liberation Movement whom emerged at the end of the 1960's that were responsible for objection openly about the restrictions regarding contraception. Nonetheless they just skimmed over the topic of abortion. This group diversified and this saw the emergence of a younger more militant group, which took a stronger stance on the abortion issue. His resulted in a redefinition of the issue as a question of rights rather than medicine or psychiatry. The abortion issue has been marginalized or even organized out of politics except where counter pressures such as a strong women's movement or religious party intervened.

(The New Politics of Abortion, pg. 75)

Despite their efforts the group collapsed and a reliance on women's Centres/Clinics for information and assistance became widespread.

"No issue in reproductive ethics is riddled with more fundamental moral disagreement than abortion"

(The Abortion Papers Ireland, pg. 166)

Abortion in Ireland has clearly reflected a perceived and growing threat to Irish Catholicism and the Irish Government. The Offences Against the Person Act, passed by the British Parliament in 1861, governed it. With effect this made abortion illegal under any circumstances and the consequence to anyone who assists the pregnant woman and the aforementioned liable to life imprisonment. Roman Catholic practices permitted abortion under one circumstance, when intervention to save the pregnant woman's life results in the abortion of the foetus. This is not seen as intentionally aborting the foetus.

Phyllis Bowman, director of SPUC, claimed that international pressure groups for abortion saw Ireland as the ultimate guinea pig. If Ireland legalized abortion, then other Catholic countries like Spain and Portugal would follow.

(The New Politics of Abortion, pg. 70)

The Portuguese Law on Abortion was liberalised in 1984. However in January 1998's Referendum the people voted by a narrow majority against the proposal to permit unrestricted access to abortion up to ten weeks. In Spain on the other hand had a new legislation added in 1985 permitting abortion under certain circumstances. In 1991 the Supreme Court of Spain sanctioned abortion on social grounds, now it must be preformed in a private health care centre or an approved public centre. Spain and Portugal are on a similar divide on the issue as Ireland.

In March 1981, Mary Holland's attempt at opening up the issue of abortion failed miserably. She invited all the women who, like she had previously had abortions to come forward, she was astounded to be left unaccompanied. This attempt was a following of fellow European countries France and Germany who had been successful in their attempt. The women who had abortions took preference with anonymity. In 1992, nevertheless things were to change within Ireland, the country found itself in a predicament they could not ignore. It was an issue set to change the Constitution regarding abortion. A fourteen-year old rape victim was prevented, by the High Court from travelling abroad to seek a safe, legal abortion. The Supreme Court overruled thee High Court decision and, in its ruling, declared that abortion may be deemed legal in Ireland in certain limited circumstances. What has become known, as the "X Case" appears straightforward, although somewhat shocking. It is an extremely complicated case with the most serious consequences for Irish women, prohibiting reproductive liberty. It is believed that the girl eventually travelled to Britain where her pregnancy was terminated.
Join now!


"This debate absorbed the attention of the entire country for several months, a sign of the extent to which people generally, if sometimes obscurely, perceive abortion as a crucially important defining issue for the society and culture as a whole"

(The Abortion Papers Ireland, pg. 5)

According to Frances Fitzgerald, Chairwoman of the Irish Council for the Status of women, it is the men that make all the decisions in Irish life and particularly this issue but how little input they have on other issues that concern women and may need their assistance. She continued ...

This is a preview of the whole essay