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Abortion in Ireland: From Religious Marginalisation to State Recognition

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Book cover Irishness on the Margins

Part of the book series: New Directions in Irish and Irish American Literature ((NDIIAL))

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Abstract

In 2010, the European Court of Human Rights’ decision prompted a new debate on the abortion issue in Ireland. After explaining how Catholic teaching has shaped Irishness and influenced the Irish Republic’s pro-life policy, this chapter focuses on the legislative changes the European Court decision brought about and exposes how these have dramatically loosened the Church–state relationship. Changes are also taking place at the sociocultural level and this chapter assesses the extent to which the Catholic ethos is losing its influence on Irish minds and behaviours, more specifically in terms of abortion. It concludes by showing that these mutations have been followed by a different perception of crisis pregnancies and abortion both in Irish society and at the state level.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The only EU countries which have similarly restrictive abortion laws are Malta, Poland and Hungary. See Center for Reproductive Rights (2017).

  2. 2.

    More precisely, the court ruled that Ireland’s failure to implement the existing constitutional right to a lawful abortion when a woman’s life is at risk violated one of the applicant’s rights under Article 8 (‘Right to Respect for Family and Private Life’) of the European Convention on Human Rights. Applicant C was in remission from cancer when she became pregnant. Unaware of her pregnancy, C underwent a series of medical check-ups. She claimed that she could not obtain clear advice about the risks to her health and life and to the foetus if she continued to term. She also feared that if her cancer recurred her life would be at risk, as she could not benefit from a suitable treatment because it could harm the foetus, which is protected by the Eighth Amendment. C decided to have an abortion but could not have access to it in Ireland.

  3. 3.

    The European Court of Justice is different from the European Court of Human Rights. The former is a body of the European Union with 28 member states, whereas the latter is an international court established by the Council of Europe comprising 47 member states.

  4. 4.

    There was a lot of press coverage on the X case in 1992, and its consequences were extensively discussed in Ailbhe Smyth’s The Abortion Papers (1992) as well as Hug and Camping’s The Politics of Sexual Morality in Ireland (1999).

  5. 5.

    In the context of the political instability of the 1980s, FitzGerald accepted the Fianna Fáil’s wording for electoral reasons. Indeed, as the head of the opposition, he did not wish this issue to be on the political agenda during the 1982 general elections. However, he was criticised for supporting the amendment, which was qualified as sectarian by the Protestants from the perspective of his constitutional crusade policy. FitzGerald thus tried to propose another wording, but—due to a lack of consensus on it in the coalition government—he had no other solution than to go back to the original wording he had agreed upon during Fianna Fáil’s time in government.

  6. 6.

    The story was revealed by Kitty Holland, an Irish Times journalist. A great deal of literature has been published on this case. Holland detailed Halappanavar’s story in Savita: The Tragedy That Shook a Nation (2013).

  7. 7.

    See the main website of the Coalition to Repeal the Eighth Amendment or its Facebook page. For more details about Ailbhe Smyth’s commitment to women’s reproductive rights, read Crawford (2016).

  8. 8.

    See the main website of the Artists’ Campaign to Repeal the Eighth Amendment or their Facebook page. In September 2016, the campaign released a short film, directed by Dave Tynan and written by Sarah Maria Griffin, entitled We Face This Land (Tynan and Griffin 2016).

  9. 9.

    The Citizens’ Assembly , a group of 99 unelected representatives, was formed to consider several political questions, including that of abortion. More specifically, the Citizens’ Assembly recommended that terminations should be allowed without restriction up to the 12th week of pregnancy, or, when due to ‘socio-economic reasons’ up to the 22nd week of pregnancy. Also, in cases of fatal foetal abnormality, where the child is likely to die shortly before or after birth, it recommended that abortion be allowed at any stage of the pregnancy (Duffy 2017).

  10. 10.

    Specifically Article 41.1.1 and Article 41.1.2 in Bunreacht Na hÉireann (the Irish Constitution).

  11. 11.

    Specifically Article 41.2.1 and Article 42.1 in Bunreacht Na hÉireann (the Irish Constitution).

  12. 12.

    It is also worth mentioning that the draft Constitution was read by John Charles McQuaid, archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland, who previously declared that ‘[a constitution ] is an enactment guided and delimitated by the teachings of Catholic philosophy and theology. It enshrines and sets forth the aim of what ought to be our Christian endeavour in social policy’ (Cullen and Ó hÓgartaigh 2013, p. 10). McQuaid also wrote Éamon de Valera that ‘the aim of the State is to secure a social order, according to natural law and Christian teaching’ (p. 26).

  13. 13.

    Benedict XVI declared that ‘direct abortion, that is to say willed as an end or as a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law’ (Benedict XVI 2013). As for Francis I, he sent a message of support for human life to Catholics in Ireland during the Dáil debates on the Protection of Life During Pregnancy 2013 (Francis I 2013). In 2015, he adopted a more compassionate approach than his predecessors by relaxing forgiveness rules for abortion, but he still sticks to Catholic teaching on abortion itself (Francis I 2015).

  14. 14.

    The Mother and Child Scheme was a healthcare programme introduced as part of the 1947 Health Act that Noël Browne intended to implement in the early 1950s. It provided free medical care for mothers and their children up to the age of 16. The Catholic hierarchy opposed it, as they feared that it would pave the way for the introduction of birth-control methods or even abortion. This programme was thus never implemented as a result of Church pressure that led the coalition government to back away from the scheme; the episode caused Browne’s resignation as Minister for Health.

  15. 15.

    The EVS survey started in 1981 and it takes place every 9 years. At the time of writing the fieldwork for the fifth wave of the EVS is due to take place in autumn 2017.

  16. 16.

    Industrial schools were orphanages which also looked after neglected or abandoned children. The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, established in 2003 after a large number of people gave evidence that they had been abused, found that children had undergone sustained physical, sexual and emotional abuse as well as neglect in these institutions. David Yallop wrote a critical account of child abuse in industrial schools and also covered the Murphy report in Beyond Belief: The Catholic Church and the Child Abuse Scandal (2010). The Magdalene Laundries were institutions, run by Roman Catholic orders, which confined women whose sexual behaviour did not conform with the Church’s teaching. Women who became pregnant were confined to a Magdalene Laundry and their newborn child was taken away from them shortly after birth. The film Magdalene Sisters raised awareness of this issue (Mullan 2002). Testimonies can also be found online (Dunphy 2013). The survivor advocacy group Justice for Magdalene Laundries, founded in 2009, obtained a formal apology from the Irish state and a compensation scheme for former residents of these institutions.

  17. 17.

    Sheila Hodgers was a 26-year-old woman who died of cancer. She was denied treatment while pregnant because the Catholic ethos of the hospital did not allow treatment that might harm the foetus (Holland 2012). Ann Lovett was a 15-year-old girl from Granard who concealed her pregnancy and died after giving birth, in a grotto dedicated to the Virgin Mary, in 1984 (Hill 2003, p. 198). The Kerry Babies relates to the death of two newborn babies born after concealed pregnancies in 1984 (McCafferty 2010).

  18. 18.

    See www.thinkcontraception.ie, accessed 23 April 2017. ‘Johnny’s Got You Covered’ has a Facebook page which mentions that Johnny is ‘a friend to everyone who wants protection from STIs & unplanned pregnancy’ (https://www.facebook.com/pg/thinkjohnny/about/?ref=page_internal). It also has a Twitter account (@thinkjohnny) and a Snapchat account (think_johnny).

  19. 19.

    B4uDecide (www.b4udecide.ie, accessed 23 April 2017) is a website that gives young people the information they need to make informed decisions for themselves before having sex for the first time. It features quizzes, polls and video interviews with young people talking about relationships, sex and dealing with peers. Positive Options (www.positiveoptions.ie, accessed 23 April 2017) promotes state-funded crisis pregnancy counselling services all over the country.

  20. 20.

    The decisions made by these international bodies (ECtHR , UN) have the effect of a spark which reignites the abortion controversy on both political and social levels.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Charles de Gaulle University – Lille III, Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France

    Edwige Nault

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  1. Departmento de Filologías Inglesa y Alemana, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

    Pilar Villar-Argáiz

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Nault, E. (2018). Abortion in Ireland: From Religious Marginalisation to State Recognition. In: Villar-Argáiz, P. (eds) Irishness on the Margins. New Directions in Irish and Irish American Literature. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74567-1_7

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