Abortion in Ireland

In the context of Ireland's new legislation governing abortion, I outline and examine the spatial consequences of political decision-making. I argue that Ireland's new abortion law and its clinical guidance permit travel for some pregnant people but impose fixity for others. I analyze the spatial consequences of legal limitations, including non-medically necessary delays and control of medication abortions, that necessitate travel for abortion. I demonstrate how current laws fix some people in place, including diverse migrant populations within Ireland, with no possibilities for abortion-related travel. This critique of the 'new' law demonstrates the Irish state's continued political and medical control of abortion.

In February 2018, the Supreme Court prepared to step into the abortion debate. The country was preparing for an abortion referendum, the sixth in 35 years. A somewhat obscure immigration case raised the question of whether the unborn child had any constitutionally protected rights, other than the right to life in Article 40.3.3°. The Court’s answer to this question could have significant implications for the imminent referendum campaign, influencing the legal meaning of the change that the people would be asked to make. In this paper, I analyse the Court’s judgment with a view to assessing its implications for the referendum campaign, implications that were—in my view—overstated by both pro-life and pro-choice campaigners. Even on its own terms, the Court’s decision would have limited, if any, relevance for future cases. The significance of the decision is further undermined, however, by an unpersuasive account of the amending people as a constitutional interpreter, an anachronistic approach to constitutional interpretation, and a dubious doctrine of constitutional precedent. As a result, the precise wording of Article 40.3.3° should play a far greater role in future cases than the Court’s judgment in M v Minister for Justice and Equality.

The purpose of the research is to demonstrate how the practice of abortion in India involves state intervention in women’s personal lives. I demonstrate how significant contradictions arise in state practice towards women’s access to abortion. I discuss the implications of these contradictions for women. Moreover the sensitive issue of female feticide, which is the product of gender inequality, has been highlighted to show how this practice is culturally embedded and are generated indirectly by some of the state policies.
This research shows how abortions in India are often a breach of reproductive rights of women, and merely serve as a tool to address the concern about population explosion. Moreover the state has imposed the 1994 Pre Conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act to prohibit sex selective abortions from above, without bringing changes from below, which is making the law stringent implications ineffective.

In contrast to the UN Human Rights Committee (HRComm), the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has not yet found that a prohibition of abortion in cases of fatal fetal abnormality (FFA) violates the prohibition of torture or inhuman and degrading treatment (Art 3 ECHR). We argue that the ECtHR is on the verge of aligning itself with the HRComm because: (i) recent ECtHR jurisprudence is broadening its interpretation of rights within the abortion context; (ii) the ECtHR frequently uses international law as an interpretative tool; and (iii) moving in the direction of the HRComm would not be as controversial as it may have been in the past. More broadly, we take a positive view of fragmentation and demonstrate how an international court, with some ingenuity, can broaden its approach on sensitive topics, by engaging with views of other international courts or Treaty Monitoring Bodies.

(draft under review for Yearbook of the Irish Philosophical Society)
After the death of Savita Halappanavar it was argued that following Catholic reasoning on obstetric emergencies imposes restrictions on medical practices that are unsafe for women. The Irish Catholic Church rejected this claim but did not provide a clear argument to support their claim. This paper will engage with Catholic reasoning on obstetric emergencies and will reflect on the impact of such reasoning on the practical management of such emergencies in Catholic hospitals in the US. In light of these findings and facts about the case, it will be concluded that the official statements of the Irish Catholic Church on obstetric emergencies were at the very least misleading.

[ NOTE: The uploaded version is a page proof with different pagination. For the full published text, go to https://muse.jhu.edu/article/720556 ]

Reading the narrative role of disability in the "Nausicaa" episode of Joyce's Ulysses through Roland Barthes's notion in Camera Lucida of the punctum, this essay repositions the disability of Gerty MacDowell both as a dynamic feature of the narrative and as evidence of her considerable agency within the chapter. Joyce's depiction of Gerty's disability shows that, far from passive and desexualized, she is a model for the structure of the episode generally, especially its use of juxtaposition and disruption. Reappraising Gerty's disability, then, reveals not only greater depth in her character but greater complexity and nuance in the episode as well.

NOTE: This is a pre-print version of the paper from 2017

This chapter examines the power of visual images to address lingering colonial legacies and the subsequent patriarchal, postcolonial conditions that reinforce strict control over women’s sexual and reproductive health in Ireland. Framed by historical context, it analyzes contemporary Irish art, visual culture, and embodied activist gestures, focusing on how these images manifest gendered histories, assert visible resistance and signs of solidarity, and, importantly, reveal hidden journeys women in Ireland take for reproductive healthcare. This chapter, like the art it details, aims to counter the silencing of those impacted by the reproductive injustices in Ireland.

This article covers the Repeal Project Jumper, the Abortion Rights Campaign imagery, Artists' Campaign to Repeal the 8th, Speaking of IMELDA, the Maser Mural, #TwoWomenTravel, artwork by Siobhan Clancy and Áine Phillips amongst others.

I'm happy to share this paper if you don't have access through your library - just contact me for a pdf.

This paper examines the politics of the successful referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment in the Republic of Ireland, held in May 2018. Exploring how trust (or the lack thereof) shaped the trajectory and processes of the Repeal campaign, we demonstrate that political trust is not necessarily a prerequisite of modern democracies; instead, we contend that both political trust and mistrust are essential, complementary and productive elements of political life.

This brief review of the case for a right to access abortion, in light of the 2014 observations and recommendations of the Human Rights Committee, will examine the wording and interpretation of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, and the challenge these present to the sovereignty of the Irish state, to assess what obligations Ireland has (if any) to the opinions of the monitoring body.

The purpose of the research is to demonstrate how the practice of abortion in India involves state intervention in women’s personal lives. I demonstrate how significant contradictions arise in state practice towards women’s access to abortion. I discuss the implications of these contradictions for women. Moreover the sensitive issue of female feticide, which is the product of gender inequality, has been highlighted to show how this practice is culturally embedded and are generated indirectly by some of the state policies. This research shows how abortions in India are often a breach of reproductive rights of women, and merely serve as a tool to address the concern about population explosion. Moreover the state has imposed the 1994 Pre Conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act to prohibit sex selective abortions from above, without bringing changes from below, which is making the law stringent implications ineffective.

In 2018, the Irish public voted to repeal the Eighth Amendment to the Irish Constitution, which since 1983 banned abortion in the country. While this was a watershed moment in Irish history, it was not unconnected to wider discussions now taking place around the world concerning gender, reproductive rights, the future of religion, Church-State relationships, democracy and social movements. With this Forum, we want to prompt some anthropological interpretations of Ireland's repeal of the Eighth Amendment as a matter concerning not only reproductive rights, but also questions of life and death, faith and shame, women and men, state power and individual liberty, and more. We also ask what this event might mean (if anything) for other societies dealing with similar issues?

In March 2018, the Irish government confirmed that a referendum would be held on 25 May, allowing for the Irish public to vote on the legalisation of abortion. The same month, Together for Yesthe national civil society campaign advocating for a 'Yes' vote in the referendumwas launched. This article draws upon findings from 27 in-depth interviews conducted in December 2019 and January 2020 with Irish abortion activists, to explore the moral and emotional construction of abortion within the 'Yes' campaign. This research suggests that the 'Yes' campaign, which secured 66% of the votes cast in the referendum, framed abortion as a negative affective object and constructed the moral permissibility of abortion along rather conservative lines. Data from the first year of abortion provision in the Republic of Ireland reveals that abortion seekers still face huge obstacles in accessing services in the State. The legislation introduced in January 2019 allows abortion on request only until 12 weeks, whilst issues remain in relation to the refusal of care. This article, therefore, concludes that by framing abortion in conservative terms, the pro-choice campaign has not yet succeeded in destigmatising abortion in Irelandan issue now translated into limited legislation and inadequate provision of services.

The transcript from a Twitter Q&A I did with ABROAD FOR YES--a group that provides networking opportunities for those who might have a problem making it back to Ireland to vote in the repeal the 8th referendum, and those who are in a position to help arrange travel, etc.

(draft submission under consideration for Allyn Fives and Keith Breen (eds.), Philosophy and Politics)
In this paper I will discuss the role of the issue of suicidality as grounds for abortion in the creation and application of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013 which established a legal framework for lawful abortion for the first time in Irish history. During the process of developing and passing the legislation, an extensive public debate took place that was designed to give comprehensive consideration to the significance and potential implications of such legislation. Much attention was given to ensure fair representation of opposing positions on abortion, with careful inclusion of pro-life and pro-choice participants in all parts of the debate. Yet, the framing of the issue was based on the peculiarities of the Irish legal and historical context, in particular with regard to the issue of suicidality, and resulted in a debate with prominent red herrings and misapprehensions that, as will be argued, ultimately stood in the way of an adequately differentiated engagement with pressing ethical concerns arising in the application of this legislation. These ultimately manifested themselves in the Y case that raised troubling issues about how the legislation worked. While it would be unreasonable to expect public deliberation to meet standards of careful philosophical debate, it will be suggested that more attention needs to be paid to the implementation of models of deliberation that have the capacity to address the specific challenges that arose in this process.