A Tale of Two Referendums
A Comparative Study of the Anti-Amendment Campaign and Together for Yes
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 18969700 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sinéad Kennedy (National University of Ireland, Maynooth, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 04 |
| Publication date | 2022-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Feminist Encounters A Journal of Critical Studies in Culture and Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2468-4414 • E-ISSN: 2468-4414 |
| Publisher | Lectito BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.20897/femenc/11748 |
| OpenAlex | W4214694079 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 18 |
The 8th Amendment, Ireland’s constitutional ban on abortion, may be viewed as a prism through which shifting ideas about women and sexuality in Irish society can be understood. How did Ireland move from being the first country in the world to offer constitutional protection to the ‘unborn’, to a country that enthusiastically voted to support abortion as a legitimate choice in pregnancy at a time when, internationally, the tide appears to be shifting towards more restrictive abortion regimes? This article offers a comparative study of two referendum campaigns; the feminist-led Anti-Amendment Campaign that organised to oppose the introduction of the amendment in 1983; and Together for Yes, the 2018 campaign to remove the amendment. Focusing on these two campaigns will allow an exploration of how over the course of 35 years’ abortion moved from being a one dimensional ‘moral’ issue to a multi-dimensional political and social question that reflected changing attitudes to sexuality and the role of women in public life. This article examines the political compromises the campaigns made, highlighting the lessons that can be taken forward in order to achieve a more emancipatory discourse of reproductive agency both in Ireland and internationally
Abortion · Constitutional amendment · Human sexuality · Irish · Political science · Politics · Prism · Referendum · Social science · Sociology · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Law · Reproductive Health and Contraception · Reproductive Health and Technologies
The Politics of Sexual Morality in Ireland
The abortion referendum of 2018 and a timeline of abortion politics in Ireland to date
From Feminist Anarchy to Decolonisation
Abortion Im/mobility
Race, Identity and the State After the Irish Abortion Referendum
How can a state control swallowing? The home use of abortion pills in Ireland
A Hope Raised and then Defeated'? the Continuing Harms of Irish Abortion Law
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |