Triumph and concession? The moral and emotional construction of Ireland's campaign for abortion rights

Abstract

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 Yes – the national civil society campaign advocating for a ‘Yes’ vote in the referendum – was 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 Ireland – an issue now translated into limited legislation and inadequate provision of services.

The geography of abortion: Discourse, spatiality and mobility

“…This, of course, chimes with the broader trend towards the everyday, bodily and affective across geography described earlier. O’Shaughnessy’s (2021) narrative analysis of Ireland’s campaign for abortion rights focuses on the implications of the conservative political approach of the pro-choice campaign which, she argues, has meant that Ireland has not yet been successful in achieving the destigmatisation of abortion. Paradoxically, this narrative failure sits alongside the success of Repeal.…”

Abortion as healthcare: The adaptability of medicalization and legalization in post‐repeal anti‐abortion politics

“…I build on recent feminist and reproductive justice research in the Irish context, which has focused on the experiences with service provision and access (Grimes et al., 2022; Mishtal et al., 2022), and activism (McAffrey, 2023; O'Shaughnessy, 2022). My work focuses on the governance of abortion after the transition to legalization in Ireland and conceptualizes changes and continuities within abortion politics beyond a change in the legal status of abortion.…”

Technologies of protest in Irish abortion activism

“…Anthropological attention to the recent history of abortion activism in Ireland has focused on multiple areas, including democratic and constitutional politics, use of art in activism, shifting religiosity, and reframing cultural values through narrative (Drążkiewicz et al. 2020; NicGhabhann 2018; O'Shaughnessy 2021). Although scholars have explored questions of the abortion pill in Ireland, few have documented the crucial history of Irish abortion activism's role in shaping desire, awareness, and acceptance of medication abortion through protest actions (Calkin 2021; Sheldon 2016, 2018).…”