The Cultural Politics of Sexuality and Reproduction in Northern Ireland

Abstract

This article is concerned with the ways in which moral conservatives frame their opposition to liberal sexual and reproductive service provision in a divided society, namely Northern Ireland. The analysis focuses on the assertion of a common 'Northern Irish' position as a key strategy in opposing both abortion access and impartial and confidential sexual health service provision for young people at activist and official political levels. The relative success of the conservative lobby's cultural strategy, despite the otherwise divided social context, raises important questions about the role of gender and age in the politics of recognition.

The Northern Irish Assembly and the Abortion Issue, 1967-2017

“…Lisa Smyth underlined in 2006 how politicians "who might otherwise divide along Catholic / Protestant or (Irish) nationalist / (British) unionist lines […] appeared to form a united, non-sectarian front in opposing sexual and reproductive rights and services" and how state regulation of sexuality and reproduction were indeed "one of the few areas where cross-community agreement can occur in Northern Ireland" 80 . As it was, until 2018, the major political parties in the Assembly offered a united front on the issue of abortion, although to varying degrees (Sinn Féin's position, as seen previously, was to allow abortion in cases of sexual abuse and foetal fatal abnormality).…”

‘Ulster Says No’: Regulating the consumption of commercial sex spaces and services in Northern Ireland

“…This superiority/authority is galvanised via the political system in NI on account of the inseparability of church and state, that is, of course, due to the deep-rooted ethno-religious and sectarian schisms that prevail in NI. Despite such divisions the Protestant and Catholic churches have long adopted a unified socially conservative standpoint on the sexual mores of Ireland -north and south -since at least the 19 th century (Kitchin & Lysaght, 2004;Smyth, 2006).…”

Abortion and Citizenship Rights in a Devolved Region of the UK

“…Smyth (2006) argues that anti-abortionists have promoted a discourse about ‘Northern Ireland's proud tradition as a pro-life nation’. Yet, when asked in 2008 whether ‘you personally think it is wrong or not wrong for a woman to have an abortion if there is a strong chance of a serious defect in the baby?’, only 25 per cent of Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey respondents said ‘always wrong’ (NILT, 2008); 14 per cent made a similar response in the British Social Attitudes Survey (Park et al ., 2010).…”

“…Indeed, all the research evidence available suggests that sexual activity patterns are no different in Northern Ireland to Britain. Smyth (2006) argues that anti-abortionists have promoted a discourse about 'Northern Ireland's proud tradition as a pro-life nation'. Yet, when asked in 2008 whether 'you personally think it is wrong or not wrong for a woman to have an abortion if there is a strong chance of a serious defect in the baby?…”