Fertility, bodies and politics
The Irish case
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3972574 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jo Murphy-Lawle, Jo Murphy-Lawless |
| Year | 1993 |
| Volume | 1 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 53-64 |
| Publication date | 1993-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Reproductive Health Matters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0968-8080 • E-ISSN: 1460-9576 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1016/0968-8080(93)90007-g |
| OpenAlex | W2069790012 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 4 |
The struggle on the part of women in Ireland to secure abortion rights is an outgrowth of the complex interrelationships between womens bodies demographic trends and the politics of fertility in a Catholic-dominated state. Despite a post-Potato Famine post-Independence ideology of unregulated fertility marital fertility fell by 36% in 1961-81 and a below-replacement level of 2.11 was achieved in 1989. Irelands demographic transition has been attributed to the increasing level of female education and labor force participation associated with the shift from an agricultural to industrial society; however the significance of womens struggles to control their own reproduction cannot be dismissed. The depth of this struggle is illustrated by the response to the 1992 X case in which a 14-year-old suicidal rape victim was forbidden to travel to England to secure an abortion. A complex Supreme Court ruling allowed the teen to abort on the grounds that Irish abortion law guarantees the right to life to the fetus but also to the mother; a similarly ambiguous referendum held in 1993 rejected a right-to-life constitutional amendment and supported a womans right to travel abroad for abortion services and to have access to abortion information. Although the referendum represents the first victory for Irelands pro-choice movement its codification remains uncertain and information and access to contraception are not guaranteed. Teenagers minority women and poor women are most likely to be denied access to contraception and family planning services are not available in 3 of Irelands 7 regional public health services. This is producing a situation where postcoital contraception available to young women through the Irish Family Planning Association is a primary form of fertility control. The growing demand for contraception and abortion represents a determination on the part of a broad movement of Irish women to secure freedom from unacceptable social constraints and a patriarchal morality
Abortion · Abortion law · Economic growth · Economics · Family planning · Fertility · Irish · Political science · Politics · Population · Referendum · Sociology · Irish and British Studies · Social Issues and Policies · Demography · Law
A Woman Alone
Sexual Regimes and Migration Controls
The midwife case and conscientious objection
The sexual politics of citizenship and reproductive rights in Ireland
Internal migration and the negotiation of citizenship; the struggle for reproductive self-determination in Ireland
Abortion is part of the irish experience, it is part of what we are”
Social Policy and Fertility Change in Ireland
Narratives of Irishness and the Problem of Abortion
Abortion and Reproduction in Ireland
Antiabortion positions and young women's life plans in contemporary Ireland
| Unique citing works | 10 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,33 |
| Citation span | 1996 - 2019 (24) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 10 |