Repealed

Camilla Fitzsimons

Description

In Ireland, 2018, a constitutional ban that equated the life of a woman to the life of a fertilised embryo was overturned and abortion was finally legalised. This victory for the Irish Repeal movement set the country alight with euphoria. But, for some, the celebrations were short-lived – the new legislation turned out to be one of the most conservative in Europe. People still travel overseas for abortions and services are not yet fully commissioned in Northern Ireland.



This book traces the history of the origins of the Eighth Amendment, which was drawn up in fear of a tide of liberal reforms across Europe. It draws out the lessons learned from the groundbreaking campaign in 2018, which was the culmination of a 35-year-long reproductive rights movement and an inspiring example of modern grassroots activism. It tells the story of the ‘Repeal’ campaign through the lens of the activists who are still fighting in a movement that is only just beginning.

Foreword – Ruth Coppinger

Prologue

1. Introducing the Real Heroes

2. Reproductive Oppressions in Ireland

3. Ireland's Dark History of Injustices Against Women - Camilla Fitzsimons & Sinead Kennedy

4. After the Eighth, the Slow Movement for Repeal - Sinead Kennedy

5. No Quiet Revolution - the Grassroots Gathers

6. The Together for Yes Campaign

7. The Battle Continues

8. Where to Next in the Struggle for Reproductive Rights?

Sujets

• Women's Studies
• Political Advocacy
• Political Process
• Constitutions
• Social Science
• POLITICAL SCIENCE
• Advocacy group
• Catholic Church
• General officer
• Ireland
• Feminism
• Catholic
• Christianity
• Activism
• Abortion
• Birth Control
• Liste de constitutions nationales
• Stephen Ireland
• General
• Discrimination

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 20 novembre 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780745344294
• Langue: English

Extrait

Repealed
An indispensable and compelling read, showing how feminist organising changes law and changes activists.
-M ir ad Enright, Reader in Feminist Legal Studies, University of Birmingham and a founding member of Lawyers for Choice
A call-to-arms in the on-going global fight for abortion access and reproductive justice.
-Br d Smith TD, People Before Profit
Repealed
Ireland s Unfinished Fight for Reproductive Rights
Camilla Fitzsimons With Sin ad Kennedy
Foreword by Ruth Coppinger
First published 2021 by Pluto Press
New Wing, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA www.plutobooks.com
Copyright Camilla Fitzsimons 2021
The right of Camilla Fitzsimons to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 0 7453 4428 7 Hardback
ISBN 978 0 7453 4427 0 Paperback
ISBN 978 0 7453 4431 7 PDF
ISBN 978 0 7453 4429 4 EPUB


Typeset by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England
The history of this movement really needs to acknowledge all the people involved nationwide that helped get the Eighth Amendment repealed. Not just the figureheads. Local people in local areas helped this to pass.
I would love to say much more but I have to get the children to bed!
Member of ARC and Parents for Choice (2020)
Contents
List of Tables
List of Abbreviations
Acknowledgements
Foreword by Ruth Coppinger
Prologue
1 Introducing the Real Heroes
A Changed Ireland
Those Canvassing to Retain, Not Repeal
Beyond Pro-Choice/Pro-Life Binaries
From Rights to Justice
2 Reproductive Oppressions in Ireland
Reproductive Rights and the Capitalist Patriarchy
Reproductive Unfreedoms
When the Courts and Cops Are Not Your Friend
3 Ireland s Dark History of Injustices Against Women
(Camilla Fitzsimons and Sin ad Kennedy)
The Incarceration of Women
Second-Wave Feminism
The Pro-Life Amendment Campaign
The Aftermath
Grassroots Feminism Under Attack
4 After the Eighth, the Slow Movement for Repeal
(Sin ad Kennedy)
1983-92: In the Shadow of the Eighth
1992: The X Case
1992-2012: After the X Case
2012: The Death of Savita
2013-17: The Movement to Repeal
2018: Together for Yes
5 No Quiet Revolution - The Grassroots Gather
We re Not Afraid to Talk About Abortion
Local Groups Emerge Across Ireland
Pro-Repeal and Anti-Capitalist - The Creation of ROSA and MERJ
The Creativity of Repeal
6 The Together for Yes Campaign
Who are These People? The Public Face of Repeal
7 The Battle Continues
Anti-Abortion Politicians Fight Back
Resistance from Within the Medical Profession
The Pro-Life Crusade Continues
We re Exhausted! Burnout and the Toll of Repeal
8 In the Struggle for Reproductive Rights, Where to Next?
The Wider Demands of Repeal
From Reproductive Rights to Reproductive Justice
Independent/Non-Funded Groups Active in 2021
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Tables
6.1 What aspects of Together for Yes are working well - results 2018 (response rate 94%)
6.2 What aspects of Together for Yes are not working well, results 2018 (response rate 88%)
7.1 What are your thoughts on the way things have panned out in terms of access to abortion and reproductive rights more broadly - results 2020 (response rate 96%)
Abbreviations
AAC
Anti-Amendment Campaign
AACW
Abortion Action Campaign West
AIMS
Association for Improvements in Maternity Services
ALRA
Abortion Law Reform Association
AMRI
Association of Mixed Race Irish
ARC
Abortion Rights Campaign
ASN
Abortion Support Network
AWG
Abortion Working Group
BPAS
British Pregnancy Advisory Service
CAP
Contraceptive Action Campaign
CARASA
Committee for Abortion Rights and Against Sterilisation Abuse (US)
CO
Conscientious objection
DUP
Democratic Unionist Party
EMAs
Early medical abortions
ET
Educate Together
HIQA
Health Information and Quality Authority
HSE
Irish Health Service Executive
GSOC
Garda S och na Ombudsman Commission
ICBR
Irish Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform
ICCL
Irish Council for Civil Liberties
IFPA
Irish Family Planning Association
ILGA
International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association
IWLM
Irish Women s Liberation Movement
IWU
Irish Women Unite
LMC
Bereavement support (formerly Leanbh mo Chro )
MASI
Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland
MERJ
Migrant and Ethnic Minorities for Reproductive Justice
MRC
Migrant Rights Centre
NARAL
originally in 1969, National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, then National Abortion Rights Action League, and later the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League. Now known as NARAL Pro-Choice America (US)
NCCA
National Council for Curriculum Assessment
NCCWN
National Collective of Community Based Women s Networks
NIHRC
Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
NUI
National University of Ireland
NWCI
National Women s Council of Ireland
P4C
Parents for Choice
PLAC
Pro-Life Amendment Campaign
PPSN
Personal public service number (social security number)
RSE
Relationships and sex education
ROSA
Reproductive Rights against Oppression, Sexism and Austerity
SARRA
Sligo Action for Reproductive Rights Access
SAZs
Safe access zones
SIPTU
Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union
Sol-PBP
Solidarity-People Before Profit
SPUC
Society for the Protection of Unborn Children
START
Southern Taskgroup on Abortion Reproductive Topics
TD
Teachta D la (Member of the Irish Parliament)
TENI
Transgender Equality Network Ireland
TERF
Trans exclusionary radical feminism
TFMR
Termination for Medical Reasons
TfY
Together for Yes
TRAP laws
Targeted regulation of abortion providers laws
UNHRC
United Nations Human Rights Council
USI
Union of Students in Ireland
WRCG
Women s Right to Choose Group
Acknowledgements
There were so many people who authored this book. Thanks to Sin ad Kennedy, not just for her contributions, but for her tireless efforts for as long as I can remember. Thanks to Melisa Halpin, Helen Guinane and Sin ad Redmond, Paula Dennan, Laura Fitzgerald and Emma Quinn, Emma Campbell, Ailbhe Smyth, JoAnne Neary, Helen Stonehouse, Emma Hendrick, TFMR, START, Emily Wazak and Cristina Florescu, TENI, Limerick Feminist Network, SARRA, Fingal Feminist Network, Abortion Action Campaign West, and Emma Carroll and Ciara McGuane who created In Our Shoes . There are many others too who answered the phone and replied to emails and allowed me to bounce ideas off them. Thanks to the artist Maser who made his iconic repeal image available for others to use and which has been adapted for the cover of this book. And to Paula Geraghty who has been filming and sharing street activism for decades. To my editor Neda Tehrani, thank you. I learned an enormous amount from your astute observations, and suggestions for change. Thanks also to the team at Pluto Press for their work, and the copy-editor, Jeanne Brady.
Thanks to those who read early drafts: Sin ad, Jerry, Meliosa, Declan, Sarah, Brian, Anna and Conor, and to Bernie who was involved in the early stages. Oisin Kelly was often on hand for questions about the workings of the D il. Thank you to Ruth Coppinger, a tireless fighter and inspiring feminist and socialist.
Finally, to the thousands of ordinary activists who so heroically gave so much of themselves - we did it!
Foreword
Ruth Coppinger
Without struggle, there is no progress
Frederick Douglass

The referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment will go down as a seminal event in Ireland s history. A major movement from below won a vital health and civil right, inflicting the most serious defeat on the Catholic Church in a country where it once held sway. For women and anyone who can become pregnant, the significance of winning this bodily autonomy in your country can t be overstated. Years of taboo, years of expense, years of secret, illegal journeys were over.
Such was the reduced power of the Church, it took no active part in the 2018 abortion referendum. This was incredible, given that the Church had been so central in 1983 in inserting the amendment in the first place and so central to the suppression of women s rights and reproductive freedom for a century.
The decisiveness of the referendum result points to a massive paradox, with the Church still in control of so much of the country s health and education systems, underlining that there is huge unfinished business for women s rights in Ireland.
Though a small country, repeal in Ireland also had international repercussions, being cited by Latin American activists as inspiration for pushing forward their abortion rights campaigns, particularly in Argentina.
The forces that brought about victory for abortion rights in Ireland must be given their rightful place in history. That is an important contribution of this book. Because as soon as the repeal mountain was climbed, there was a race to stick a flag on the summit and claim the victory. Politicians from government and opposition parties, who d resisted calls for a referendum for years and who d voted down repeal Bills, now quite literally jumped on the bandwagon/stage at Dublin Castle to take the plaudits.
These parties were either late converts and inactive in the actual canvass (Fine Gael), a majority No (Fianna F il), or, in the case of Sinn Fein, had taken a late repeal stance for abortion in very restrictive circumstances. These parties got plum media slots for the Yes side, yet had no record on abortion rights. The Labour Party, which did have a tradition of opposing the Eighth Amendment, had nonetheless held back a referendum, with Joan Burton as T naiste claiming the public had no appetite for repeal and the party voting against repeal bills in 2015 and 2016.
These things matter, not just for a correct record, but also for making clear to