As part of Strathclyde Women's Week 2024, we are focusing on the work of Humanities & Social Sciences academics whose research relates particularly to the experiences of women and girls.
Professor Laura Kelly is a historian of modern Ireland with expertise in gender history, oral history and the social history of medicine. She is currently researching the history of pro-choice and pro-life activism in 1980s and 1990s Ireland.
We spoke to Prof. Kelly about the complex history of women's access to reproductive health in 20th century Ireland and her research into the experiences of women involved in activism and direct action campaigns.
Can you give us a brief history of access to contraception in 20th century Ireland?
Access to contraception in early twentieth century Ireland was very much influenced by Ireland’s sociopolitical and religious climate. Following independence, the new Irish Free State from 1922 embraced a conservative outlook, with Catholic values embedded in the new state’s identity.
Motherhood and family were elevated in status, backed by the dominant religious discourse. Laws passed in the 1920s and 30s reinforced moral codes. This included the 1929 Censorship of Publications Acts which banned any information relating to contraception or abortion and the 1935 Criminal Law Amendment Act which banned contraception.
There are parallels with other predominantly Catholic countries; Belgium, France, and Italy also had bans on contraception (although this stemmed from concerns about depopulation after the First World War rather than moral concerns). Ireland probably had more in common with Spain where contraception was banned in 1941 and not decriminalised until 1978.
Class also had a huge impact. If you had the means, it was possible to get contraceptives in Britain or over the border in Northern Ireland and smuggle them back. From the 1960s, it was possible also to obtain the contraceptive pill as a ‘cycle regulator’ – although this involved knowing a doctor willing to prescribe it and having to language and confidence to ask.
From 1969, family planning clinics provided contraception and got around the law by asking for a donation, but again, these served the urban middle-classes. Contraception was not legalised until 1979 and even then, it was only for ‘bona fide family planning purposes’ so access remained restrictive. It was not until 1993 that the law was fully liberalised.
What is the history of the legal status of abortion in modern Ireland?
Abortion was illegal in Ireland under the British 1861 Offences against the Person Act which was retained after Irish independence. Historians such as Professor Cara Delay, through extensive research of Irish criminal court cases from the first half of the twentieth century, have shed light on the practice of illegal abortion in the country.
From 1968, with the introduction of the 1967 Abortion Act in the UK (with the exception of Northern Ireland), Irish women seeking abortions in increasing numbers began to travel to the UK to have terminations. Again, class is really important here given the cost of travel and the procedure. More broadly, unmarried motherhood was very stigmatised in Ireland for much of the twentieth century and there were limited options for women who found themselves in this situation.
From the early 1970s, the anti-abortion movement in Ireland began to mobilise resulting in a referendum in 1983 which introduced the pro-life eighth amendment into the Irish constitution which essentially protected the life of the unborn. From the period after 1983 on, it became more difficult for Irish women to get information on abortion in the UK and anti-abortion organisations such as SPUC (Society for the Protection of Unborn Children) were very active. For example, in the late 80s, an injunction taken by SPUC resulted in the closure of two counselling services providing abortion referral.
What caused legislative change in access to contraception?
Activists and campaigners have played an integral role, with a lot of this achieved through direct action campaigns which challenged the law, women played a key role in these.
In 1971, members of the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement travelled from Dublin to Belfast and smuggled back contraceptives to highlight the hypocrisy of the law; this event, called the Contraceptive Train, received huge media attention and helped to generate discussion of the issue.
In the late 1970s, activists from the Contraception Action Programme sold contraceptives illegally through a shop called Contraceptives Unlimited, as well as through markets and even a caravan. At the same time as this, campaigners from family planning clinics also challenged the law by providing contraceptives to people who paid a donation. All of this activity helped to put pressure on the government to legislate for the contraception issue, which it did eventually in 1979.
Another group I have been researching is the IFPA youth group which was a group of young activists who volunteered with the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA). In 1988, they set up a stall selling condoms in the Virgin Megastore in Dublin. At this point, condoms could only be obtained in licensed outlets such as pharmacies. By selling condoms illegally in this way, the youth group challenged the law, and their action resulted in a court case in 1991, again bringing publicity to the issue and putting pressure on the government. In 1993 the law was fully liberalised.
Tell us about the impact of pro-choice activism.
I have been doing some research on Ireland’s first pro-choice group, the Women’s Right to Choose Group, which was founded in 1980 and began to campaign for a change in the law. The women who were involved in this group were frustrated by the secrecy and stigma that surrounded abortion in Ireland and the fact that the abortion problem was essentially being exported to England. They organised several initiatives such as public meetings (which were often hugely controversial), seminars on women’s health, and conferences which helped to generate discussion around the issue.
They also set up the Irish Pregnancy Counselling Centre (IPCC), which provided non-directive counselling for women facing unplanned pregnancies and helped to support those who decided to have an abortion in organising travel to the UK. The work of the IPCC highlighted the challenges facing women who went for abortions in England, they experienced guilt, shame, and a sense of isolation. It was also very difficult for women to find basic information about abortion in Ireland in this period.
Later work of activists and campaigners - particularly young women - was also crucial in bringing about the repeal of the eighth amendment in 2018. Following the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar in 2012, the Abortion Rights Campaign was established, and mobilised people across the country to campaign on this issue.
What progress was made in other areas affecting women's rights in this period?
Many of the activists I interviewed who were active in campaigns in the 1970s referred to the introduction of free secondary education in 1967: this was very important in providing women with opportunities that they might not have otherwise been able to avail of, and it also meant that more women were going on to university.
I think many of these women, once they went into the workplace, became radicalised by issues such as lack of equal pay and the marriage ban (which lasted until 1973), but also issues relating to reproductive health such as the ban on contraception, lack of availability of divorce, and attitudes to and lack of support for unmarried mothers.
So, essentially, there are lots of issues affecting women’s rights in Ireland in this period and the 1970s mark a key turning point in terms of activism around these issues. However, social and legislative change was very gradual. For example, marital rape was not a crime until 1990 and it was not until 1995 that divorce was legalised in Ireland.
In what ways does the history of abortion and contraception access in modern Ireland continue to affect health provision for women today?
It is possible to obtain an abortion in Ireland up until 12 weeks, however, a recent report by Dr Lorraine Grimes and ARC, has shown that women still face barriers in access.
Under Irish abortion legislation, health professionals can object to providing an abortion on conscientious grounds, which means that some women have to travel to another provider. Some women have to face anti-abortion protests when they go to a clinic or hospital, although a bill is currently being debated around safe access zones. There are also women still travelling to the UK for abortions if they are over 12 weeks pregnant.
In relation to contraception, there has been significant change. In July 2022, the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Act was signed into law, enabling the introduction of free contraception for women aged 17-25, and this has recently been expanded to include women aged 17 to 31. While this is a positive step, it augments the idea that contraception is a woman’s responsibility.
- Read more of Laura's research on PURE Portal