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.
Highlights
Ireland, abortion and the campaign to repeal the 8th amendmentIn May 2018, the Republic of Ireland voted by an overwhelming majority to remove the 8th amendment of the constitution, an article which banned abortion in almost all instances
What is less clear is how the ‘Yes’ campaign mobilised particular ideas about the moral and emotional economy of abortion and how activists ‘on the ground’ felt about this framing. Chloe recounts her experience with the official campaign messaging as follows: I found it quite jarring that a lot of the people who shared their stories, the overwhelming narrative was of suffering and tragedy relating to abortion
Based on the analysis of data gathered through 27 in-depth, qualitative interviews with Irish abortion activists, it concludes that the ‘Yes’ campaign mobilised a set of moral and emotional frames which constructed abortion as a negative affective object and as morally permissible only in situations of dire need
Summary
Abortion and the campaign to repeal the 8th amendmentIn May 2018, the Republic of Ireland voted by an overwhelming majority to remove the 8th amendment of the constitution, an article which banned abortion in almost all instances. Fletcher (2005: 378) argues that whilst the influence of the Catholic Church is insufficient in explaining Ireland historical anti-abortion stance, it was Catholicism which provided both the ‘religious signifier of Irishness’ as well as the ‘ideological justification’ for the idealisation of motherhood through its veneration of the Virgin Mary. It was religious institutions like the Magdalene Laundries and the ‘Mother and Baby Homes’ which incarcerated ‘sexually deviant’ women (Lentin, 2015: 153). The ‘right to travel’ was formalised for women in the Republic in 1992 following the ‘X case’ ruling (Gilmartin and Kennedy, 2019)
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