OLLIVIER Amélie
An Analysis of the Socio-Political
Issues Surrounding Abortion in Ireland
Mémoire de Maîtrise réalisé en 2001 sous la direction de
Mme ANDRE Valérie, Maître de Conférences à l’Université
de Provence. (Note obtenue : 17/20)
Université de Provence
Centre des Lettres et Sciences Humaines
13621 Aix-en-Provence
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ........................................................ 4
PART ONE: LEGAL HISTORY OF ABORTION ...... 9
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 10
1.1
THE EIGHTH AMENDMENT, 1983 ....................................................................................... 11
1.2
A DECISIVE YEAR: 1992 ...................................................................................................... 14
1.2.1
The X Case ..................................................................................................................... 14
1.2.2
European issues ............................................................................................................. 16
1.2.3
The Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments ................................................ 17
1.3
REGULATION OF INFORMATION (SERVICES OUTSIDE THE STATE FOR TERMINATION OF
PREGNANCIES) ACT, 1995 ................................................................................................................ 20
1.3.1
Debate on Information and Referral............................................................................. 20
1.3.2
Provisions of the Act ...................................................................................................... 21
1.3.3
Appraisal of the Act ....................................................................................................... 22
CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................................... 24
PART TWO: CONSERVATIVE INSTITUTIONS IN A
PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY ........................................ 26
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 27
2.1 FAMILY, MOTHERHOOD AND SACRIFICE IN IRISH TRADITION ................................................. 28
2.1.1 Women: Guardians of the Family Temple ......................................................................... 28
2.1.2 Mother Ireland: a Nationalist Ideal? ................................................................................. 30
2.2 INFLUENCE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN IRISH SOCIETY...................................................... 32
2.2.1 Influence in the Political Life ............................................................................................. 33
2.2.2 Influence in Social Life ...................................................................................................... 35
2.2.2.1 Social Welfare ............................................................................................................................. 35
2.2.2.2 Healthcare ................................................................................................................................... 36
2.2.2.3 Education .................................................................................................................................... 37
2.3 A POWERFUL LOBBY: THE PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT ................................................................... 41
2.3.1 Structure .............................................................................................................................. 42
2.3.2 Support ................................................................................................................................ 44
2.3.3 Arguments and Strategies ................................................................................................... 46
CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................................... 51
PART THREE: TOWARD A LIBERAL SOCIETY?
FACTORS OF CHANGE ............................................ 53
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 54
3.1 THE MODERNIZATION PROCESS ................................................................................................ 55
3.2 INFLUENCE OF THE MEDIA ......................................................................................................... 59
3.2.1 Irish Insularity Undermined ............................................................................................... 60
3.2.2 Media and Women’s Issues ................................................................................................ 61
3.2.3 Irish Media: From Private to Public .................................................................................. 63
3.2.4 The Church and Sex Scandals............................................................................................ 64
3.3 WOMEN’S ACTION ...................................................................................................................... 66
3.3.1 Consciousness-Raising ....................................................................................................... 66
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3.3.2 Women’s Social Action ....................................................................................................... 68
3.3.3 Political and Legal Action................................................................................................... 69
3.4 EUROPEAN INFLUENCE ............................................................................................................... 71
3.4.1 Social Influence .................................................................................................................. 71
3.4.2 Influence on Irish Legislation ............................................................................................ 72
CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................................... 74
PART FOUR: A REFERENDUM FOR THE NEW
MILLENIUM?............................................................. 76
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 77
4.1 LIMITED ACTION SINCE 1995 ..................................................................................................... 78
4.1.1 The Women and Crisis Pregnancy Study (1998) ............................................................... 78
4.1.2 Green Paper on Abortion (1999) ........................................................................................ 81
4.1.3 Report of the All-Party Oireachtas Committee (2000) ....................................................... 83
4.2 OPTIONS LEFT TO THE GOVERNMENT ....................................................................................... 85
4.2.1 Legislation in Accordance with the X Case ........................................................................ 85
4.2.2 A Referendum to Ban Abortion .......................................................................................... 87
4.3 DELAYING FACTORS ................................................................................................................... 88
4.3.1 The Nice Treaty ................................................................................................................... 89
4.3.2 The Electoral Game ............................................................................................................ 90
CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................................... 92
CONCLUSION ............................................................ 94
BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................ 99
PRIMARY SOURCES .................................................................................................................... 100
SECONDARY SOURCES .............................................................................................................. 101
NEWSPAPER ARTICLES.................................................................................................................... 106
WEBSITES ........................................................................................................................................ 107
APPENDICES ........................................................... 108
APPENDIX ONE THE IRISH CONSTITUTION AND FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS ................................... 109
APPENDIX TWO IRISH PEOPLE AND SEXUAL MORALITY .............................................................. 110
Opposition to divorce, abortion and homosexuality by age group and age cohort 1981, 1990 and
1999 ............................................................................................................................................ 110
Divorce........................................................................................................................................ 110
Attitudes to abortion by religious grouping, 1999. ..................................................................... 111
Conditional attitudes to abortion, 1981, 1990 and 1999. ........................................................... 111
Conditional attitudes to abortion by religious grouping, 1999. .................................................. 112
Opposition to divorce, abortion and homosexuality by broad age group and educational level,
1999 ............................................................................................................................................ 112
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INTRODUCTION
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A characteristic of Western countries, apart from their economic domination,
is the relatively democratic and liberal nature of their laws. On the Old Continent, this
feature of a country’s political and legal institutions is a condition to the membership
to the European Union. Today, every member state, except one, has recognised
abortion as a right that should be secured under a democratic regime. This right is
probably considered by many people among the youngest generations of Europeans
as natural and self-evident, although the legalization of abortion was achieved in most
of these countries in the seventies and eighties only. As a French person living in a
country where abortion has been legal for more than 25 years, and seems to be one of
the symbolic pillars of women’s emancipation, I was quite surprised when I found out
that in the Republic of Ireland, a full member of the EU, abortion was illegal.
Ireland is well-known worldwide for being a very Catholic country. However,
one does not realize the implications of this religiosity until one discovers that it
permeates the social and political institutions of the country. The direct influence of
religion on the laws concerning sexual morality is a striking example of the
domination of Catholic social teaching on Irish society. Abortion is indeed not a case
apart in Irish legislation. A similar issue, that of contraception, was first brought
successfully under Irish legislators’ consideration in 1979, four years after the French
Parliament liberalized abortion laws in France. Homosexuality was decriminalized in
1993, seven months before the European Parliament issued a resolution aimed at
giving homosexual couples the same rights as heterosexual couples, in particular the
right to marry and to adopt children. Up to 1993, dozens of men were prosecuted for
homosexual offences, in Ireland.1 As for divorce, a key issue in the debate over
Family as an institution as depicted by Catholicism, it was eventually legalised in
1
Chrystel Hug, The Politics of Sexual Morality (London: MacMillan Press, 1999) pp. 206-208
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1995, after the failure of a first referendum in 1986. Abortion is still illegal to date.
However, the broad anti-abortion consensus that dominated up to the eighties has
increasingly been eroded.
The publications focusing on the question of abortion in Ireland are not very
numerous. Although the issue is often referred to in various articles and books, there
are few in-depth analyses of the problem. The detailed studies one can find are
written by a limited number of authors, who often belong to one or the other side of
the debate, or adopt a biased approach to the issue. Of course, it seems difficult, if not
impossible, to remain objective in front of such a sensitive subject. The motives of
this research paper on abortion are themselves guided by my positions on the matter.
However, the discourse found in those works is often biased, sometimes
propagandist, and often aims at convincing the readers of the reasons why abortion
should or should not be legalised in Ireland. The emphasis is also frequently put on
what Irish people allegedly want or do not want regarding abortion, in order to back
pro-life or pro-choice claims with public opinion’s support. This often leads to barren
controversy, each camp denying the credibility of the other side’s sources. This
happened recently, when the results of a survey, carried out on behalf of a pro-choice
group, were contested by a pro-life spokeswoman who rejected them as being
“muddled and distorted”.2
In this research, I have tried to understand why Irish people’s positions on the
abortion issue are what they are, rather than what they exactly are. I have also
considered the role of Irish citizens’ political representatives in this issue, as it may
partly explain why the problem of abortion, which emerged as a national controversy
in the early eighties, is still not resolved today.
2
Irish Times, April 20, 2001, “Pro-life Campaign dismisses poll finding”
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To this end, I have approached this subject from a sociological and sometimes
political point of view, referring to a variety of primary and secondary sources
covering these two fields. Several polls, as well as the European Values Surveys,
have provided useful data that revealed the evolution over time of Irish people’s
attitudes and mindsets regarding questions which are not always directly related to the
abortion issue, but which nevertheless help to understand popular positions towards
this matter. The study of political documents, whether recent or drafted earlier in the
twentieth century, has allowed me to assess the role played by Irish political
institutions in the tortuous paths followed by moral issues, and particularly abortion,
in the legal area. Attendance at conferences or debates, and informal interviews
involving various individuals such as school teachers, college students, crisis
pregnancy counsellors or pro-life activists, were equally useful as they gave another
dimension to the research, while at the same time echoing pieces of information
gathered in a more “academic” way.
This collection of data helps to understand what socio-political factors have
led to the current situation where the abortion debate is bitter and divisive, while
twenty years ago a broad consensus dominated in Ireland on this taboo subject. To
appreciate the complexity of the situation today, one must have a brief look at the
legal developments regarding the abortion issue since the early eighties. The legal
aspects on this matter reflect the social and political turmoil surrounding the problem,
as they have often been the expression of partisan approaches and the consequences of
lobbying from influential groups. Besides, it is this facet of the issue that is under the
focus of most commentators, as the legislation on abortion is far from being
unambiguous. The distinctive features of Ireland’s cultural, political, and social
history, involving a long lasting domination of the Catholic Church over Irish
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institutions, and a powerful and effective pro-life lobby, seem to be the main factors
which secured, for decades, a national conservative consensus on abortion. However,
Ireland has been undergoing rapid changes for the last thirty years. Modern influences
have spread among the population which is progressively moving away from a
conservative social teaching that has been for a long time a characteristic of Ireland’s
identity. Conflict arises between the liberal quest for personal interests and the
traditional self-sacrifice praised by the Catholic hierarchy. Doubt and uncertainty
prevail around the question of abortion. An increasing number of Irish people are torn
between decades of dogmatic moral teaching on sexual issues, and new opportunities
for independent choices and behaviour. Irish governments have had to face these
conflicting trends, and found themselves in a very uncomfortable position, under the
pressure of opposing lobbies. The reluctance of politicians to settle the abortion issue
is obvious in the way they have dealt with this problem in the last decades, postponing
any effective but controversial decision that could be politically detrimental to their
government.
The social and political situation is such that, today, one cannot logically
expect that a liberal law, which would legalise abortion in Ireland on grounds other
than a risk to the physical life of the pregnant women, will be passed before several
years, if not decades.
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PART ONE
Legal History of Abortion
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Introduction
If a woman by her magic destroys the child she has conceived of somebody, she shall do
penance for half a year with an allowance of bread and water and abstain for two years
from wine and meat and fast for six forty-day periods with bread and water.3
This quotation from a seventh century Irish Penitantial4 is extracted from one of
the earliest documents which regulated the practice of abortion in Christian Ireland
and is, not surprisingly, a religious text. The issue of abortion is not restricted to the
modern world and its practice could probably be dated back to the early stages of the
human race. The fact that the first recorded form of legislation concerning abortion
was issued by the early Christian Church is not insignificant when one knows that the
legacy of religious teachings permeates our modern system of values and laws. The
impact of the Church on the legislation related to sexual mores is visible in the
Offences Against the Person Act, passed by the British government and implemented
in Ireland from 1861 onwards. This act restricts abortion and sexual behaviour. While
homosexuality, outlawed under the act, was decriminalised in the early nineties,
abortion and attempts to procure or assist at an abortion remain criminal offences
according to the Irish Statute Book.
Abortion was thus merely illegal in Ireland until 1983, when the introduction
of the Eighth Amendment to the Irish Constitution made this practice
unconstitutional. This further reflected the influence of the Catholic Church over Irish
society, as an essentially Catholic principle was included in the national Constitution.
Anne O’Connor, “Abortion: Myths and Realities from the Irish Folklore.” (Ailbhe Smyth (ed.), The
Abortion Papers, Dublin: Attic Press, 1992, pp. 57-65).
4
Penitantials were “manuals of private penance designed to assist the priest or spiritual guide by
describing various types of sins and specifying appropriate penances.” (A. O’Connor, pp. 58-59).
3
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After the 1983 referendum the issue of abortion disappeared from the political
stage. The debate was raised again in 1992, when a court case known as the X Case
put the Eighth Amendment, now Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution, to the test. This
case led to further provisions taken both at national and European levels, as it
coincided with the adoption of the Maastricht Treaty.
One of the latest consequences of this case was the adoption, in 1995, of the
Regulation of Information (Services Outside the State for Termination of
Pregnancies) Act. The act legalised the distribution of information on abortion at the
end of non-directive counselling sessions.
1.1 The Eighth Amendment, 1983
In April 1981, the Pro-Life Amendment Campaign (PLAC) was officially
launched in Ireland. The main objective of this alliance of right-wing organisations
was to have included in the Irish Constitution an amendment that would guarantee the
right to life of the unborn child. Although abortion was illegal under the Offences
Against the Person Act of 1861, PLAC feared that it might be legalised by the
Parliament, the courts or by a European directive. To prevent this eventuality the
movement sought to make abortion unconstitutional, so that only a referendum would
threaten its legal status. It was clear in the early eighties that the Irish people would
never vote in favour of the legalisation of abortion, while the threat of European
pressure, or of a court’s ruling in favour of it did exist. Thus, PLAC pressured Irish
politicians into organising a referendum to introduce a ban on abortion. They were
successful in their request as the early eighties were characterised by political
instability. This gave lobbies such as PLAC more influence on the political leaders
who sought to secure much-needed votes. A wording for the amendment was
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established, and the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution was accepted in a national
referendum held in September 1983.
Several factors can account for the mobilisation of the pro-life lobby.
International and national legal precedents strengthened the idea that the Offences
Against the Person Act may not be a sufficient barrier against the “moral decadence
of Europe”. Indeed, in Great Britain, the same act had not prevented the liberalisation
of the law on abortion: the Rex vs. Bourne case of 1939 had opened the door to the
British Abortion Act of 1967. Besides, in 1973 the American Supreme Court
recognised in the Roe vs. Wade case that the right to marital privacy secured a right to
abortion. In 1974, the same right to marital privacy was invoked in Ireland in the
McGee vs. Attorney General case, when Mary McGee claimed her right to use
contraceptives. The ruling of this case had led the Irish Parliament to liberalise
contraception through the Family Planning Act of 1979. PLAC feared that the
concept of marital privacy might be used to defend the right to abortion in Ireland.
Irritated by the liberalisation of contraception, which they saw as the symbol of a
permissive society, the members of PLAC were firmly decided to prevent similar
developments for abortion. Their determination was reinforced by the opening of the
Dublin Well Women Centre in 1979, and the Irish Pregnancy Counselling Centre in
1980. Both organisations provided information and support to women facing crisis
pregnancies, and referred them to British clinics if they opted for an abortion.
Furthermore, an article published in 1980 on the activities of the Women’s Right to
Choose Group (WRCG), entitled “Feminists Plan Abortion Campaign”, confirmed
PLAC’s decision to act. Finally, the members of PLAC worried about the European
Community’s possible attempts to interfere with Irish legislation on this matter.
Indeed, in 1981 the European Parliament recommended that Ireland should take
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measures which would insure that an Irish woman facing a crisis pregnancy could
“obtain necessary assistance in her own country” (Hug, 144). The Irish Parliament
rejected this recommendation. The alliance between right-wing politicians and
opponents to abortion was sealed.
The referendum campaign was significant as it was the first time in the
twentieth century that the Irish people was divided on an essentially religious issue.
The Anti-Amendment Campaign (AAC), initiated by the Women’s Right to Choose
Group, was launched in June 1982 to counteract PLAC’s activities. Aware that a
campaign for the legalisation of abortion would be counter-productive in a society
that remained very conservative, the organisation opposed the amendment on
religious, medical and legal grounds. Indeed, both PLAC and AAC had strong
support from representatives of the medical and legal circles, and the debate mainly
focused on these two themes. The wording of the proposed amendment, as adopted
by the Dail and the Seanad (Irish parliamentary houses) in the spring of 1983, read:
The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal
right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect and, as far as practicable, by
its laws to defend and vindicate that right.
For the militants of AAC this wording would not protect a woman’s life as her right
to life was set at the same level as the right to life of the unborn. They argued that this
wording was ambiguous and could lead to conflicting medico-legal interpretations.
The amendment was also criticized on the ground that it was in contradiction with the
attempt to bring about reconciliation with Northern Irish Protestants, for all Protestant
Churches opposed this wording.
However, a better organized and financed movement, PLAC, appealing to the
social, moral, and religious values of Irish citizens, was successful in its battle. In
1983, after more than two years of fierce campaigning, the Eighth Amendment to the
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Constitution was accepted in a national referendum. A majority of 66.9% voted in
favour of the amendment, while 33.1% rejected it. Although these numbers may
suggest an unambiguous victory for PLAC, it is worth noting that the turnout was
only 54.6%. It appears, thus, that the amendment was effectively supported by only
35.79% of the Irish electorate.5 The abstainers, whether in favour or against the
amendment, did not feel sufficiently concerned by the question of abortion to go out
and vote. Subsequently, the Eighth Amendment became Article 40.3.3 of the
Constitution, and its interpretation led to several legal cases going before the Irish
Supreme Court.
Indeed, the pro-life movement felt it had closed any door to the liberalization of
abortion and seemed to be confirmed in this view during the eighties. The early
nineties, however, witnessed a number of developments that questioned this
assumption.
1.2 A decisive year: 1992
1.2.1 The X Case
At the turn of the decade, despite several surveys that indicated a shift in public
opinion on moral issues, not one of the major political organizations was willing to
raise again the question of abortion. There appeared to be a consensus on the idea that
the amendment of 1983 was the final word in this matter. Yet, an event independent
of the political parties placed the issue once again at the centre of the public and
political stages: the X Case eroded the anti-abortion consensus and shook public
opinion notably.
Brian Girvin, “Social Change and Moral Politics: The Irish Constitutional Referendum, 1983”
(Political Studies; vol. 34, 1986: pp. 61-81) p. 76.
5
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In February 1992, the Attorney General, principal law officer, gained a High
Court injunction against a 14-year-old girl who had travelled to Britain with her
parents to obtain an abortion, her pregnancy resulting from a statutory rape.6 The
decision of Judge Costello, who granted this injunction, relied on the rationale that
the constitutional right to freedom of movement could be restrained if it was used
against the constitutional right to life of the unborn. The parents of the young girl,
who had suicidal tendencies due to her unwanted pregnancy, appealed to the Supreme
Court which lifted the injunction. The Supreme Court judgment opened up the
possibility that, under the terms of the Eighth Amendment, abortion would be
permissible in Ireland if there were a strong probability that the life (as distinct to the
health) of the mother was in danger. This danger could be a risk of suicide. However,
the Judges also stated that when the life of the mother was not at risk, her right to
travel could be restrained so as to prevent her from obtaining an abortion abroad.
This ruling generated a number of difficulties. Indeed, the Supreme Court
recognized that abortion could be constitutional under certain circumstances,
undermining the entire campaign of the anti-abortion movement. Pro-life activists
were particularly concerned about the possible abuses of the risk of suicide as a
ground for obtaining an abortion. Besides, if some form of abortion was legal under
the Irish law, this implied that information on the subject should be available to those
women who would undergo the operation. Indeed, information on abortion was
illegal in Ireland. Furthermore, the Court’s statement that the right to travel could be
restricted to prevent unlawful abortion raised issues both at national and European
level.
In this case “statutory rape” refers to a sexual intercourse with an under-age girl, whether she consents
or not.
6
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1.2.2 European issues
Ireland, a member of the European Community since 1973, participated in the
negotiations of the Maastricht Treaty which was to be ratified in 1992. Unlike most of
the other member states Ireland required this treaty to be ratified in a popular
referendum. This gave pressure groups a certain amount of influence during the
negotiations. In order to protect Article 40.3.3 of the Irish Constitution from any
interference by the European Community, the anti-abortion lobby, represented by
Senator Des Hanafin, had pressured the government into negotiating a special
protocol to the treaty, Protocol 17, which stated that:
Nothing in the Treaty on European Union, or in the Treaties establishing the European
Community, or in the Treaties or Acts modifying or supplementing those Treaties, shall
affect the application in Ireland of Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution of Ireland. 7
In 1991 the European Court of Justice defined abortion as a commercial service, and
as such it was prone to Community Law. This implied that clinics from other member
states had a right, under European legislation, to advertise their abortion services in
Ireland. However, in the late eighties the Irish courts had ruled in several cases that,
under the Eighth Amendment, the promotion of information on abortion was illegal in
Ireland. By insuring, through Protocol 17, that the European court-cases would not
take precedence over Irish case laws, pro-life activists had sought to protect the ban
on information secured by the Irish judges.
However, the Supreme Court ruling in the X Case had legal consequences that
were not expected by the anti-abortion movement or by the member states at the time
of the drafting of Protocol 17. Both pro-life and pro-choice groups resented these
consequences. The former because the protocol, initially designed to secure a total
ban on abortion, would on the contrary secure a right to abortion found constitutional
7
Green Paper on Abortion, (Dublin: Stationery Office, Government Publication, 1999).
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by the Supreme Court judges. The latter because the protocol could restrict the right
to travel. Finally, pressured by both movements to solve the issues raised by the X
Case ruling, but also compelled to comply with Community Law rights to travel and
to information, the Irish government included a Solemn Declaration to the Treaty,
stating that “the Protocol shall not limit freedom either to travel […], or […] to obtain
and make available in Ireland information relating to services lawfully available in
member states.” Besides, the Declaration also secured that any future constitutional
amendment of Article 40.3.3 would be protected by the protocol as long as it did not
conflict with the rights to travel and to information. These two rights were thus
secured at a European level. As for Article 40.3.3 of the Irish Constitution, although
protected by Protocol 17, it was not clear whether it was so, as interpreted by the
Supreme Court in the X Case, that is to say with a (limited) right to abortion, or as
aimed initially, that is a total ban on abortion. Further provisions had to be made at a
national level in order to clarify the situation.
1.2.3 The Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments
The rights to travel and to information guaranteed in the European Treaty had
now to be written into the Irish legislation which did not provide any guideline on the
matter. In the wake of the adoption of the Eighth Amendment, several rulings in Irish
courts had outlawed the provision of information on abortion. In 1986, one of the
most active groups within PLAC, the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child
(SPUC), obtained an injunction against two pregnancy-counselling centres: Open
Door Counselling, and the Well Women Centre. These centres were charged with
facilitating the “murder” of unborn children by providing information on, and
arranging appointments at British abortion clinics. In the High Court, Judge Hamilton
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ruled that the providing of information that would facilitate an abortion was illegal. In
1988, the Supreme Court rejected the counselling centres’ appeal on the ground that a
right to information on abortion services available abroad would be in contradiction
with the constitutional right to life of the unborn. A few months later, SPUC obtained
another injunction against three student unions that published in their student
handbooks addresses and phone numbers of British abortion clinics. The student
unions also lost the case. In the early nineties, thus, the providing of information on
abortion seemed to be illegal. However, this illegality rested on the judges’
interpretation of Article 40.3.3 rather than on any clear-cut legislation passed by the
Parliament. This unclear situation led to a climate of fear and self-censorship among
publishers of women’s magazines, counselling centres, and even individuals who did
not know what was legal and what was not, and who feared to be prosecuted by
SPUC.
In 1992, however, the government was faced with the obligation to clarify the
situation once and for all. Open Door Counselling and the Well Women Centre had
taken their case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) which gave its final
judgment in October 1992, a few months after the X Case Supreme Court judgment.
The ECHR ruled that Ireland was in breach of the European Convention of the Rights
of Man. It argued that a ban on information put women’s health at risk, particularly in
the case of a woman who sought to terminate a pregnancy that threatened her life, as
a lack of information may delay the abortion. This judgment, together with the
Solemn Declaration on Protocol 17, forced the Irish government to make provisions
at national level. However, instead of taking legal measures the government preferred
to put the issue back into the hands of the Irish people. Three amendments to Article
40.3.3 of the Constitution were proposed to Irish citizens, in referendums held in
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November 1992. One focused on “the substantive issue”, that is the conditions under
which abortion could be legal in Ireland, and restricted the ruling of the X Case.
Another dealt with the right to travel. The last one dealt with the right to information.
The following wording was proposed for the Twelfth Amendment:
It shall be unlawful to terminate the life of an unborn child unless such termination is
necessary to save the life, as distinct from the health, of the mother, where there is an
illness or a disorder of the mother giving rise to a real and substantial risk to her life, not
being a risk of self-destruction.8
This amendment was rejected by 65.4% of the voters.9 Both pro-life and pro-choice
groups opposed it. Indeed, Pro-Life Campaign, (the re-formed PLAC), rejected what
they perceived as an explicit acknowledgment by politicians that abortion could be
introduced in Ireland, although under limited circumstances. The other side wanted to
ensure that abortion would be permissible according to the X Case ruling, that is to
say with the risk of suicide included as legal ground for a termination of pregnancy.
Besides, some concern was also expressed about the distinction between the life and
the health of the woman, as it is not always easy to draw the line between the two.
The second proposal, the Thirteenth Amendment read:
This subsection shall not limit freedom to travel between the state and another state.
This amendment was accepted by 62.4% of the Irish voters (Girvin, 1994). The
Fourteenth Amendment stated:
This subsection shall not limit freedom to obtain or make available, in the state, subject to such
conditions as may be laid down by law, information relating to services lawfully available in
another state.
This amendment was passed with 59.9% of the votes (Girvin, 1994). The outcome of
these referendums can suggest that a more liberal electorate had emerged since the
8
Green Paper on Abortion ( Dublin: Stationary Office, Government Publication, 1999) p. 136.
Brian Girvin, “Moral Politics and the Irish Abortion Referendums, 1992.”(Parliamentary Affairs;
OUP, April 1994, vol.47, no.2, pp. 203-221) p. 219.
9
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early eighties. Indeed, despite Pro-Life Campaign’s advocacy of a “No” vote on each
of the proposals, a majority of voters chose to secure both the right to travel and the
right to information. The rejection of the Twelfth Amendment, however, meant that
the issue of the legal status of abortion in Ireland was still not solved. The ruling of
the X Case thus remained the main guideline in term of regulation, although many
people disapproved of it. As for the regulation of information, concrete measures had
now to be taken at parliamentary level in order to specify the nature of the
information that could be given, as well as the context in which it could be given.
1.3 Regulation of Information (Services outside the State for Termination of
Pregnancies) Act, 1995
After being delayed by several political events such as the European elections of
1994, the Regulation of Information Bill was finally passed in the Irish Parliament
during the spring of 1995, and was submitted to the Supreme Court in order to avoid
potential conflicts on its constitutionality.
1.3.1 Debate on Information and Referral
The elaboration of this bill was dominated by a debate concerning the nature of
the information that would be legalized. Members of Pro-Life Campaign argued that
information amounting to assistance was unlawful under Article 40.3.3 as amended in
1992. They included in their definition of assistance the giving of names, addresses
and phone numbers of abortion clinics abroad, as they considered that to provide this
information was a form of referral. It had been clearly stated in the Dail during the
elaboration of the Fourteenth Amendment that referral would not be legalized. The
issue at stake was thus to establish an unambiguous definition of the term “referral”.
The Dublin Abortion Information Campaign (DAIC) opposed PLC’s argument that
- 20 -
specific information on clinics was a form of referral. The group limited referral to
the contacting of a clinic on behalf of a pregnant woman with a view to arranging an
abortion. Although DAIC made this distinction, it wished to include referral in the
information act. However, the government argued that many Irish citizens might have
accepted the Fourteenth Amendment on the condition that abortion referral would not
be authorised. Thus, the Regulation of Information Act would not legalised referral.
1.3.2 Provisions of the Act
The act regulates the supply of information given in a non-personal relationship,
that is to say by a doctor or a counselling agency. One of the main results of this act is
that it clarifies the definition of “information”, and solves the issue of the legal status
of abortion referral. Section 2 of the act defined information as information that:
(a) Is likely to be required by a woman for the purpose of availing herself of services provided
outside the state for the termination of pregnancies, and
(b) Relates to such services or to persons who provide them. 10
This clearly includes the providing of addresses and phone numbers.11 On the other
hand, section 8 states that:
It shall be unlawful […] to make an appointment or any other arrangement for or on behalf of a
woman with a person who provides services outside the state for the termination of pregnancies.
Abortion referral is thus outlawed, although any “medical, surgical, clinical, social or
other like records or notes relating to the woman” in possession of the counsellor can
be given to her. Furthermore, information on abortion has to be given in the context
of a counselling session, which must include information on the other courses of
action open to the woman, namely adoption or maternity. In any case it is illegal
10
Acts of the Oireachtas as Promulgated, 1995. Dublin: Government Publications, 1995.
James Kingston and Anthony Whelan, Abortion and the Law (Dublin: Round Hall Sweet and
Maxwell, 1997) p. 195.
11
- 21 -
under the act to “advocate or promote the termination of pregnancy”, whereas the
promotion or advocacy of the other options are authorized. The act does not preclude
a value judgment on the part of the counsellors who can chose to exclude any
reference to abortion in their counselling sessions. Indeed, section 13 clearly states
that the act cannot oblige any person to give abortion information. Besides, the act
seeks to insure that the counsellor has no financial interest in giving this type of
information. From a general point of view abortion information cannot be given
without solicitation: the open display or unsolicited receipt of such information is
illegal.
1.3.3 Appraisal of the Act
The Regulation of Information Act received criticism from both sides of the
abortion debate. On one hand, members of Pro-Life claimed that to give the phone
numbers and addresses of clinics that performed abortion amounted to complicity in
the murder of an innocent child. On the other hand, members of Pro-Choice declared
that the provision against referral would penalise women who were less equipped to
contact the clinics on their own.
A general objection made against the act was that it did not make any reference
to information on abortion services in Ireland. According to the X Case ruling,
though, abortion is legal in Ireland under certain circumstances. Implicitly, thus, the
act applies to counselling sessions attended by women whose pregnancies threaten
their lives. This means that even in this case a counsellor or a doctor would not be
authorised to advocate the solution of abortion, although the life of a woman may be
at stake (Kingston and Whelan, p.198). One can assume that an explicit reference to
abortion services on the Irish soil may have antagonised Irish TDs (Irish members of
- 22 -
Parliament) who would have rejected the bill. Besides, the aim of the government was
not so much to liberalize Irish legislation on abortion, but rather to reduce the number
of Irish women who sought a termination of pregnancy abroad. Indeed, it was
assumed that the supply of counselling might reduce the incidence of abortion. Thus,
subsequently to the passing of the act, the government facilitated pregnancy
counselling by grant-aiding a number of counselling agencies. However, research has
shown that a large number of women who seek abortion do not use the services
provided by these agencies.12 Other women, who attend counselling agencies
expecting to be given information on abortion, are sometimes confronted to the
situation where the agency does not provide such information. For instance, an
agency such as Life which states on its website that its counsellors “will assist you to
consider all your options”,13 actually does not give information such as the phone
numbers of clinics, and if the option of abortion is presented to the client it will be
done in a subjective way emphasizing the physical and psychological risks of an
abortion for the women.
Another concern was that although abortion was recognized as a commercial
service by the European Court of Justice in 1991, the Information Act explicitly
outlawed financial links between the counsellors and the abortion clinics, thus going
against Community Law.
Effectively, far from settling the issue, the act has given rise to new
uncertainties. Besides it is limited in its legalisation of information. This reflects the
reluctance of the Irish government to legislate in this field. Indeed, the government
12
E. Mahon, C. Conlon, and L. Dillon, Women and Crisis Pregnancy, a Report Presented to the
Department of Health and Children (Dublin: Stationary Office, Government Publications, 1998)
Chapter 5.
13
www.life.ie (NB: my italics).
- 23 -
elaborated this piece of legislation mainly because it was pressured by the European
Union to do so.
Conclusion
Today, in Ireland, the legal situation of abortion is determined by three main
documents. The first of these documents is Article 40.3.3 of the Irish Constitution,
introduced in 1983 under the title “Eight Amendment”. After a divisive debate the
Irish electorate finally accepted the amendment by a majority of two to one, in a
national referendum. Under this article the right to life of the unborn child is
recognised as equal to the woman’s right to life. Under the pressure of the European
Community, Article 40.3.3 was amended in 1992 by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth
amendments. These amendments, voted for by Irish people, secure women’s rights to
travel and to information. The same year, Irish citizens rejected the Twelfth
Amendment proposed by the government, which would have legalized abortion in
Ireland when the life (as distinct from the health) of the woman is at risk, excluding a
risk of self-destruction.
The second document legislating on abortion is the judgment of the Irish
Supreme Court in the X Case of 1992. According to this ruling, abortion is legal in
Ireland when the life (not the health) of the woman is threatened by her pregnancy.
Contrary to the proposed Twelfth Amendment, the judges recognised the risk of
suicide as legitimating an abortion. The judgment set a precedent, and this case law
was applied in 1997 in a similar case known as the C Case. It is worth noting that,
although the X and C cases recognised the young girls’ right to avail of a termination
of pregnancy, the abortions were not actually performed in Ireland.14 It seems, indeed,
14
X actually had a miscarriage before she had time to go to Great Britain.
- 24 -
that an “English solution” solves the “Irish problem” of Irish women seeking
abortion, even in circumstances where the termination of pregnancy is considered
legal, according to a Supreme Court ruling.
The third document dealing with the question of abortion is the Regulation of
Information Act passed in 1995. The Irish Parliament adopted this act in order to
comply with the Fourteenth Amendment. It sets up guidelines for the supply of
information on abortion. Under the act, counselling agencies and doctors are
authorised to give information on this option only together with information on the
other options. The act also outlaws referral as well as any advocacy or promotion of
abortion.
The three documents have given rise to controversy in Irish society, and are met
with criticism from both sides of the debate. Indeed, pro-life groups think that this
legislation opens the road to abortion in Ireland, while pro-choice movements claim
that women’s life and health are not fully secured. In any case, one notices the
slowness of the legislative evolution in this field. This can be explained by the
reluctance of politicians to express themselves openly on the issue. The successive
governments have played cat and mouse for years to avoid making any decision that
could cause harm to their party at election-time. Indeed, Irish society has been so
conservative in the area of sexual morality, that any liberal proposition on abortion
would have been political (and social) suicide.
- 25 -
PART TWO
Conservative Institutions in a Patriarchal Society
- 26 -
Introduction
Most societies in today’s world have, at different degrees, a patriarchal nature.
Men’s control over women can be extreme, for example when women are prevented
from taking part in the public life or are imposed strict codes of dressing, as in
Afghanistan. These instances of patriarchy, often denounced by western countries,
tend, however, to conceal more insidious and widespread forms of patriarchal control
taking place in our own societies. In western countries, patriarchal relationships can
be found on the work market where employment structures favour men who have on
the average better paid jobs than women. Similarly the legal and political fields are
well-known for being dominated by men. It is also common knowledge that in many
religious ideologies, particularly in Catholicism, the identity of women is limited to a
few stereotypes such as the caring mother and loving wife.
Among European countries male domination was, for a long time, strongly felt
in the area of sexual morality: contraception, sex before marriage, homosexuality and
abortion were issues which were dealt with in a patriarchal way, and considered from
a religious point of view. Women were considered as such only when they fulfilled
their gender roles of wife or mother. Today, conservative laws that seemed outdated
to many people in different European countries, have been abolished. New laws have
been enacted which legalize practices that are widespread in our modern societies.
Ireland, however, has been, in the field of sexual morality, slower than her European
counterparts in legislating on these issues. It seems interesting to wonder why this is
so, focusing on the question of abortion.
A brief insight into the traditional conception of family and womanhood in
Ireland may provide a cultural and historical explanation of Irish backwardness in this
matter. Besides, the influence of the Catholic Church on the everyday life of Irish
- 27 -
people is a major factor in the elaboration of a conservative society. Indeed, the
Church had for a long time a monopoly over the social welfare, health and education
systems in Ireland, and still exercises considerable power in some of these areas. As a
result, priests and nuns became figures of authority in these institutions where they
promoted Catholic social teaching and strongly influenced Irish people’s views.
Finally, the mobilization of anti-abortion groups gathered in the vociferous pro-life
movement also accounts for the reluctance of legislators to liberalize the law on
abortion.
2.1 Family, Motherhood and Sacrifice in Irish Tradition
2.1.1 Women: Guardians of the Family Temple
The widespread anti-abortion position in Ireland must be studied in an Irish
cultural, historical and even political context. This issue is linked in particular to the
importance attached to family and motherhood in Ireland.
The Republic of Ireland remained a mostly rural society until the late 1950’s,
decade when the Irish industrial revolution finally took place. This rural economic
organization was associated to a rural ideology that set family as a key pillar to Irish
society. Although from the sixties onwards Ireland became an increasingly
industrialized country, this rural mentality remained widespread among the
population as part of a highly idealized past. The importance accorded to family has
been common in most European agricultural countries, as the survival of a farm often
depended on the joint work of the family members. However, this was strongly felt in
Ireland where general hardship and several economic setbacks led to the sacrifice of
individuals’ well-being and personal fulfilment in favour of the family farm. Indeed,
as small as it might be, a patch of land was never abandoned in a country where land
- 28 -
had not only economic, but also political and ideological implications. If the holding
could not sustain every member of the family, which often happened, some of the
children would emigrate and support their family, sending to Ireland part of the
money they earned abroad. In the country of emigration the role played by women
was, as in Ireland, central to the keeping of the family links. A woman would often
pay for her relatives’ travelling expenses and provide them with a shelter and a job in
the already existing Irish community. In doing so, emigrant women re-formed the
family unit they had left in Ireland. Women were thus perceived as key elements in
the (re-)forming of the family.
However, this support of family values by women was often associated to
considerable self-sacrifice, as several Irish folktales testify. Stories about emigration
depict dying women who return to Ireland warning that illness and poverty await
young people in America, and who give to their siblings the money they had earned
there, so that the younger relatives would be able to stay in Ireland. These young
women often die, but their sacrifice is valued as it allowed their relatives to stay in the
motherland.15 Another tale relates that a young girl must rescue her brothers who
have been transformed into wild geese. Her charge demands self-sacrifice and selfcontrol. Indeed, she must remain silent for if she utters a word her brothers are
doomed. In most versions of the tale she is charged with a crime but refuses to speak
in her defence and is sentenced to death. Although in the end the young girl is saved,
self-sacrifice is presented as a necessary virtue to protect the institution of family.
Like many legends, this story has a moral and didactic purpose laying down proper
rules of behaviour.16
Maureen Murphy, “The Fionnuala Factor: Irish Sibling Emigration at the Turn of the Century.” (A.
Bradley, and M. Gialanella Valiulis (eds.), Gender and Sexuality in Modern Ireland. Massachusetts:
University of Masachusetts Press, 1997) p. 89.
16
Sean O’Sullivan, Legends from Ireland (London: Batsford, 1981) p. 12.
15
- 29 -
Family in Ireland has been depicted and perceived by most Irish people as an
ideal of solidarity and unity. Abortion is felt by many as a threat to the traditional
structure of family and to the role played by women who are supposed to generate
and protect it. The notion of self-sacrifice is still present in the Irish collective
unconscious. Indeed it is often argued by opponents to abortion, that a woman’s
health or psychological well-being is less important than a foetus’s life. The woman is
expected to go through with the pregnancy whatever the consequences for her own
life and personal fulfilment; otherwise she is depicted as being selfish.
2.1.2 Mother Ireland: a Nationalist Ideal?
The traditional ideal of family and of woman as the keeper of the temple
survived through the twentieth century as part of a strong nationalist feeling. Given
the Irish political situation at the beginning of the century, a collective identity that
would strongly distinguish itself from British culture was seen as a first step toward
independence. Catholic religion, and rural life and ideology were seen as the main
elements that formed Irish identity. As family was placed at the centre of Irish
culture, the nation came to be increasingly symbolized by the figure of the mother.
Although the representation of a country as “motherland” has been common to many
countries in their struggle for independence, the case of Ireland was peculiar.
Contrary to Western countries, Ireland remained a colony until the early twentieth
century. Even after its independence in 1922, and until the end of the sixties, the
Republic of Ireland remained a weak country, politically as well as economically, on
the international scene. As a result, Mother Ireland became the only embodiment of
the nation with which the people could identify, and of which most Irish were proud.
- 30 -
This figure of the motherland, often linked to the notion of sacrifice, can be
found in famous literary and political documents which have been recognised as
landmarks of Irish (cultural) history. In Yeats’s play “Cathleen ni Houlihan”(1902),
women are associated, symbolically, to the Irish nation, and in a more concrete way
to the notion of sacrifice. Indeed, both the mother and the newly married wife of a
young Irish man must accept his leaving, as he wants to fight for the independence of
Ireland and will certainly die for his cause. In the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish
Republic, the sacrifice of Mother Ireland’s children is required. According to the
authors of the Proclamation, “the Irish nation must, by its valour and discipline, […]
prove itself worthy of the august destiny to which it is called.” The representation of
the Irish nation by the figure of the Mother had for consequence to bind up common
Irish women in the mythology of Irish nationalism. Women, as mothers, were viewed
as the national guardians of morality and traditions, which they protected by their
“valour and discipline”. As representatives of the purity and integrity of the Irish
nation, they were also the guardians of the Catholic faith, another symbol of
independence from Protestant England. Indeed, it was women, with the backing of
priests, who were in charge of the inculcation of strict discipline and sexual morality
to their children.17
This understanding of family and motherhood were formalized and
institutionalized in 1937, during the drafting of the Irish Constitution. This document,
strongly influenced by the political leader of the time, Eamon De Valera, reflected the
views held by the majority of the population until the late sixties. The Constitution
recognizes family as a natural unit at the basis of the Irish society, which should be
protected by the State. As for women’s condition, Article 41.2 reads:
17
Tom Inglis, Moral monopoly: The Catholic Church in Modern Irish Society (Dublin: Gill an
MacMillan, 1998).
- 31 -
1) In particular, the State recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State
a support without which the common good cannot be achieved.
2) The State shall, therefore, endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by
economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home.
According to this article, a woman’s place is within the home: she must sacrifice
herself for the “common good”. Besides, it is important to note the equation between
womanhood and motherhood, as in the second section the term “mothers” is
substituted to “woman”. This illustrates the largely accepted assumption that women
are not fully so if they are not mothers. Although the Irish Constitution is increasingly
criticized nowadays, a poll revealed that in 1995, only 36% of the population believed
that a new draft was necessary, while 55% thought that it should be changed only
when required.18
In a country where motherhood has been a key element in a process of cultural
and national identification, it is natural that the issue of abortion mobilize a large
number of traditionalist voices. Women’s individual choices for personal fulfilment
become, in this context, the symbol of the rejection of an idealized past and of an
ideology which have defined Irish society for decades. But the strength of this
ideology, both in its reaching the majority of the Irish population and in its duration in
time, would have been much less significant without the tremendous role played by
the Catholic Church in Irish society.
2.2 Influence of the Catholic Church in Irish Society
Ireland, with 90% of its inhabitants who claim to be practising Catholics, is one
of the most religious countries in the world. The influence of the Catholic Church on
Brian Girvin, “Church, Sate, and Irish Constitution: The secularisation of Irish Politics?”
(Parliamentary Affairs; OUP, October 1996, vol. 49, no. 4: pp. 599-615).
18
- 32 -
Irish citizens has been, and still is, relatively very strong, particularly in the field of
moral sexuality. The origin of its moral monopoly may be explained by socioeconomic factors. Indeed, after the Great Famine of the mid-nineteenth century,
Ireland faced the need to regulate its population increase in order to secure a
minimum standard of living. This regulation was achieved mainly through postponed
marriages, emigration, and a strict moral code regarding sexuality, set up by the
Catholic hierarchy. Irish people accepted these rules as they found a socio-economic
interest in them. However, when, in the sixties, this interest ceased to be at stake,
Catholic moral teaching lived on, and had a lasting legacy, which only began to
dissolve in the eighties, and can still be felt today.
The power of the Catholic Church does not rely on Irish people’s faith only. The
presence of the Church in key sectors of Irish society accounts largely for its moral
monopoly. The Catholic hierarchy has been present in the political arena since the
creation of the Irish Free State in 1922, and has exercised a strong influence on
politicians. The Church has equally promoted her ethos among Irish people through
the numerous social services she began to provide as early as the eighteenth century,
particularly in the fields of health and education.
2.2.1 Influence in the Political Life
When the Irish Constitution was drafted in 1937, the power of the Catholic
hierarchy was not questioned in Ireland, and its special position within Irish life was
even recognized in the document. Although the article mentioning this special
position was removed in 1973, and despite the claim that Ireland is a secular State,
numerous explicit and implicit references to God and Catholic social teaching can be
- 33 -
found in the Constitution, for instance in the preamble, and in articles related to
fundamental rights.
The influence of the Church has been obvious during the first fifty years of the
modern Irish State: until the early seventies bishops were directly implicated in the
setting up of Irish legislation, or were at least consulted. Nowadays, although the
Church does not seem to take part directly in political life, it still exercises a strong
influence on the politicians’ decisions. Indeed, it is highly probable that politicians,
more or less consciously, are unwilling to solve issues such as abortion, as the
outcome could be in opposition to Catholic moral teaching. Although the hierarchy
has argued recently that it did not expect the State to enact laws reflecting Catholic
morality, it has nevertheless stated that an act made legal under human law did not
prevent it from being evil under God’s law. This statement can itself be perceived as a
form of pressure on politicians, most of whom are practising Catholics.
Furthermore, if Catholic teaching is, in the political field, no longer as strongly
and as openly promoted by the Church as it used to be, lay groups have taken it upon
themselves to defend the Catholic ethos in the political arena. Indeed, the membership
of strong lobbies such as the pro-life movement, is mainly composed of conservative
Catholic activists. Other associations, such as the Knights of Saint Columbanus, also
play an important role in the social legislation battle. This organization, a
“patriarchal, secretive, Catholic, fundamentalist network of influential men who seek
to exert power and influence”,19 has indeed been in the background of most antiabortion campaigns. Both vocal and “secret” groups have thus replaced the Church’s
official voice in the political area, and can prove as powerful as the Catholic
19
Emily O’Reilly, Masterminds of the Right (Dublin: Attic Press, 1992) p. 20.
- 34 -
hierarchy, as testified through the insertion of the Eight Amendment in 1983, which
resulted from the mobilization of numerous Catholic lay associations.
Moreover, although close relationship with a bishop or a priest is no longer
necessary to convince an electorate, religious capital remains an important asset
enabling politicians to attract a large number of Irish voters (Inglis, Moral Monopoly).
Irish TDs’ Christian values may indeed influence voters, especially when
parliamentary committees are discussing issues such as abortion.
But why is it so? Why are so many people faithful to Catholic moral teaching?
Why have they opposed liberal measures in the field of sexual morality, while other
European Catholic countries have accepted to legislate in favour of issues such as
abortion? One of the main explanations is probably the power exercised by the
Church in institutions that are attended on a daily basis by the Irish population.
2.2.2 Influence in Social Life
2.2.2.1 Social Welfare
Religious orders were among the first organizations to provide services such as
healthcare, social welfare or education in Ireland. Although it can be argued that this
was true for most European countries, the particularity of Ireland is that the
participation or even monopoly of the Church in this field has lasted well into the
twentieth century. This has been possible thanks to the powerful physical
organization and human resources enjoyed by the Church until the eighties. In 1997
the Church owned 667 charitable institutions such as hospitals, orphanages, homes
for the blind, etc… In the hospital sector, voluntary hospitals account for about 50%
of the Department of Health and Children’s hospital budget, although they are run
both by religious orders and lay boards of governors. Besides, a large number of
- 35 -
Catholic associations operate in the welfare service (Inglis, Moral Monopoly, p. 40).
Organisations such as the St Vincent De Paul Society have agencies all over the
country, with members visiting regularly thousands of homes. The Knights of Saint
Columbanus also promote and finance social and cultural (Catholic) organizations.
The initial purpose of this provision of social services was to disseminate and
safeguard the faith. It seems indeed that people benefiting from these services were
more easily convinced of the moral value of Catholic social teaching.
2.2.2.2 Healthcare
In front of the declining number of religious vocations, the nuns and brothers
working in voluntary hospitals have been progressively replaced by lay doctors and
nurses. However, the training the new recruits received in these private institutions
was, until the nineties, heavily influenced by Catholic principles. “ This system of
training produced extremely practical but unquestioning practitioner[s]”,20 who
adhered to the Church’s code of medical ethics, formally within Church-controlled
institutions, and informally in many State-run hospitals.
Today, the medical ethical guidelines, followed by most hospitals and
practitioners, are issued by the Medical Council. This does not mean, however, that
they are not influenced by the Catholic ethos. Indeed, the guidelines regarding
abortion issued in 1998 and currently in operation, state that
The deliberate and intentional destruction of the unborn child is professional misconduct.
Should a child in utero suffer or lose its life as a side effect of standard medical treatment
of the mother, then this is not unethical. Refusal by a doctor to treat a woman with
20
Austin L. Leahy and Miriam M. Wiley (eds.) The Irish Health System in the 21st Century (Dublin:
Oak Tree Press, 1998) p. 243.
- 36 -
serious illness because she is pregnant would be grounds for complaint and could be
considered21 to be professional misconduct. (Green Paper, p. 34)
Whereas abortion here is clearly described as unethical (it “is professional
misconduct”), refusal to treat a patient if she is pregnant is not as clearly condemned
by the Medical Council as abortion (it “could be considered to be professional
misconduct”). Besides, the propaganda term “unborn children”, first used in Ireland
in the eighties by the pro-life movement, is substituted to the purely scientific medical
word: foetus. The Catholic ethos obviously permeates these guidelines, and the
possibility of links between anti-abortion organizations and members of the Medical
Council cannot be excluded.22
2.2.2.3 Education
But the real power of the Catholic Church rests on its domination of the
education system, which allows the “indoctrination” of the masses. To many Irish
people, the influence of the Church in this field appears as normal since most of the
Irish population is Catholic. But are not those 90% of the Irish population Catholic,
because they have received all along their school time an education imbued with
Church’s teaching?
At primary level all Irish schools are denominational, except for a few multidenominational institutions. About 93% of these schools are under the patronage of
the Catholic Church. At secondary level, Catholic authorities run most schools, which
gather about 60% of second-level students.23 Besides, the Church is also represented
21
My italics
Frederick W. Powell, The Politics of Irish Social Policy, 1600-1990 (Edwin Mellen Press, 1992) p.
256.
23
oasis.gov.ie/education/post_primary_education/types_of_post_primary_scholl.htlm
22
- 37 -
on the boards of management of formally non-Catholic schools.24 At third level, the
influence of the Church on the National Universities of Ireland (NUI) had an effect,
until recently, on the appointments of the teachers and on the curriculum, particularly
in the Departments where the knowledge produced was directly related to Church
teaching. Furthermore, the two Irish Teacher Training Colleges are denominational.
Teachers are indeed trained in institutions imbued with Catholic or Protestant ethos!
For most individuals, 18 years spent in an education system that promotes
religious social teaching will not tend to give them a critical spirit toward the Catholic
ethos, particularly when, at home, parents do not question this system of values.
Religion, in these schools, is not supposed to be restricted to religious instruction. It
often permeates the whole atmosphere of the class. This implies that the taboos of the
Church become taboos at school too. The issues surrounding sexuality are dealt with
in a very “Catholic way”. Sexual teaching will be limited to what is right and what is
wrong, with no or very little debate, as any discussion on topics such as abortion may
be a questioning of or go against Catholic teaching. A striking instance of schools’
reticence to talk about sexuality is their failure to implement the Relationship and
Sexuality Education (RSE) Programme, set up by the Irish Government in 1997. The
programme, designed to be implemented in most primary and post-primary schools,
aims at offering children an opportunity “to evaluate critically the wide range of
information, opinions, attitudes and values offered today”25 in Irish society. This plan,
developed by several partners in education (among whom are Catholic
representatives), does not impose a curriculum on the schools. Indeed, the State
recognizes the right of each school to choose what it wants to teach in this field,
according to its particular ethos. A committee is to be set up by the school’s board of
24
Tom Inglis, Lessons in Irish Sexuality (Dublin: University College Dublin Press, 1998) p. 51.
Relationships and Sexuality Education: Going Forward Together. An Introduction to Relationships
and sexuality Education for Parents. Booklet edited by the Government of Ireland, 1997.
25
- 38 -
management, gathering representatives of parents, teachers and members of the board
itself, and is responsible for the drafting of a policy statement. The concrete
consequence of this is that a teacher, if asked about abortion by a pupil, may be able
to answer that the issue is not part of the RSE programme established by the school
and thus cannot be discussed in class. Yet, to achieve this stage it is necessary for
schools to implement the Government’s Programme in the first place. This is not the
case. More than one third of all Irish schools had not taken any steps to begin the
implementation of the programme in December 1999,26 and in January 2001 some
principals did not even know what the RSE Programme was! This slow
implementation is due to the mobilization of many people (both parents and teachers),
who oppose the scheme and argue that sexual education is already provided during
religious instruction through the Children of God series, a religious education
programme. This, obviously, does not offer the basis for an open debate. Discussion
is all the less welcome in situations where the teachers feel embarrassed. The
atmosphere in which information on sexuality is provided to students can become one
of secrecy and guilt, when the teacher urges the pupils to reveal nothing of what is
said in the classroom, and even locks the door of the room.27 Some students reported
that their teacher “chose” the questions she would answer, ignoring those that
embarrassed her. In these conditions, it appears impossible to talk about controversial
issues such as abortion, except in a one-way perspective, when pro-life activists are
invited by teachers to show videos displaying an abortion being carried out,28 for
instance.
26
www.ifpa.ie/campaigns/rse/rse.html
Reported by a college student in a private discussion.
28
Many students told me that they had been shown, at secondary school, a video entitled “The Silent
Scream” picturing an abortion being carried out, and close shots of aborted foetus.
27
- 39 -
It seems that the Irish education system condemns children to learn and accept
“religious truths”, rather than encouraging them to reflect about social issues and be
morally independent. Teachers also have their hands tied behind their back as,
according to the Irish Employment legislation, employees are prohibited from
“actively” undermining the ethos of the institution in which they are employed. 29 An
open discussion on abortion presenting arguments on both sides of the debate may be
seen by the courts of justice as an active undermining of the Catholic ethos, and may
result in the dismissal of the teacher who initiated this debate. However, many
teachers adhere to the Catholic ethos, like a large majority of the Irish population. The
values of the Church are indeed maintained among Irish people through a systematic
process of socialization, exercised, after school-time, in Churches themselves,
hospitals, and charity organizations.
The influence of the Church in many fields of Irish society has led to its
monopoly over sexual morality. A dogmatic knowledge is provided at school, where
ignorance is often mistaken for innocence. Abortion is not something that should be
talked about, as it is an intrinsically evil act. Women who have had an abortion are
pictured as guilty killers or as victims of the pressure exercised by a materialistic and
individualistic society. To escape such stereotypes, most women keep their journey to
Britain secret. Silence, secrecy and shame have been, through the centuries, the most
powerful means of control for the Catholic Church, and still are today.
The special position enjoyed by the Catholic Church in Ireland was possible
thanks to a large number of religious congregations who operated for the Faith. The
number of priests, nuns and brothers, however, has declined dramatically since the
eighties. The consequence of this is an increasing secularization of the institutions
29
Irish Times, October, 19th 2000, “Churches Lobbied on EU Directives”.
- 40 -
owned by the Church, as lay teachers and nurses have progressively replaced
religious recruits. When massive numbers of Church personnel were deployed to
deliver social services they focused mainly on propagating the Faith among the laity.
Today, as these massive numbers are shrinking, the new models of Catholic social
action are designed to concentrate and deploy fewer individuals to key positions in
the decision-making circles. Thus, the Church has representatives on most schools’
and hospitals’ board of management and takes part in the setting up of some
education programmes. This new form of action can match any influence achieved in
the past, all the more so when it is associated to the action of powerful organisations
and lobbies such as the pro-life movement.
2.3 A Powerful Lobby: the Pro-Life Movement
Contrary to the situation in other countries, the abortion issue was politicized in
Ireland as a result of anti-abortion groups’ mobilization to promote the reinforcement
of the legislation against abortion, rather than of pro-choice activities to liberalize it.
The Irish pro-life movement, set up in 1981, considered attack as the best defence at a
time when very few people in Ireland advocated the legalization of abortion, and
when women’s rights groups only were only starting to mobilize on the issue.30 This
strategy appeared to be successful, since the Pro-Life Amendment Campaign (PLAC)
achieved its goal when the Eighth Amendment was accepted by the Irish people and
set a constitutional ban on abortion. Although PLAC was dissolved in September
1983, the traditionalist and conservative organizations of which the movement was
composed did not abandon their struggle against “the encroaching moral decadence
of Europe” (Hesketh, p. 6). They played an active role in the (successful) campaigns
30
Tom Hesketh, The Second Partitioning of Ireland? The Abortion Referendum of 1983(Dublin:
Brandsma Book, 1990)
- 41 -
opposing the legalization of divorce in 1986, and programmes for sexual education in
the nineties. In 1992, most of the organizations and individuals involved in PLAC in
the early eighties, gathered again under the Pro-life Campaign (PLC) to restore the
original restrictive meaning of the Eighth Amendment, invoked by the Supreme Court
in the X Case to allow some form of abortion. They seemed to have lost this battle, as
the Twelfth Amendment, which banned abortion except to save the life of the mother,
was rejected by Irish people. However, in 2001, the debate is about to start again, and
pro-life groups, some of them gathered since March under the Mother and Child
Campaign,31 will once more pressure the Irish government to organize a referendum,
and mobilize support for a new campaign against abortion. In order to understand the
abortion issue in Ireland, it is necessary to assess the importance of the pro-life lobby:
its structure, the support it enjoys, and the arguments and strategies used to achieve its
goal.
2.3.1 Structure
The structure of the Irish pro-life movement has remained the same since it first
mobilized in the early eighties. It is a network of associations that have grown out of
each other, offering different approaches to reach the same goal. Although many
claim to be non-denominational, most of these groups are Catholic in ethos, if not in
name. As seen previously, the prohibition of abortion is not the only issue for which
they have fought during the last twenty years. Yet, abortion remains today the last
symbol of Catholic monopoly over sexual morality, and pro-life activists are
determined to protect it from the increasing secularization of Irish society. Although
some groups have dissolved since the eighties, and new organizations have been set
31
Irish Times, March 7th, 2001, Breaking News at www.ireland.com
- 42 -
up, the principle of the lobby remains the same, with an overlapping membership, and
with leaders of each association having close ties.32 The main organizations involved
include: the Responsible Society, the Council of Social Concern (COSC), the Irish
Family League, the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child, and the Knights of
St Columbanus. The very active Youth Defence was created in 1992, as a protest
against the X Case judgment, and political parties such as the Christian Solidarity
Party, appeared on the political scene, with for main hobbyhorse the abortion issue.
Tight links have been set up between these lay organizations and medical
associations. For instance, the current Chairman of the Institute of Obstetricians and
Gynaecologists, John Bonnar, played a leading role in the 1983 Amendment
Campaign, and is the founder of the Responsible Society, which was launched at the
Knights of St Columbanus’s headquarters, in 1980. Similarly, the chairwoman of the
Irish Medical Council’s Fitness to Practice Committee, Patricia Casey, was involved
in the 1992 debate against abortion, and is part of the pro-life feminist movement.33
Eamon O’Dwyer, second Chairman of the Institute of Obstetricians and
Gynaecologists and a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at NUI Galway, was
one of PLAC’s patrons, as well as a member of COSC. Like J. Bonnar and P. Casey
he made a submission to the 2000 Parliamentary Committee on abortion. However,
the three of them were heard as members of the medical profession, not as members
of the pro-life movement. This gives the movement an opportunity to put forward
(pseudo)-scientific arguments against abortion. The lobby has also strong links with
the legal profession, and eminent lawyers such as William Binchy, (specialised in
Family Law), have been involved in the debate since 1983. Besides, pregnancy
Melvyn D. Read, “The Pro-life Movement” (Parliamentary Affairs; OUP, July 1998, vol.51, no. 3,
pp. 445-457) p. 457.
33
L. Oaks, “Pro-Woman, Pro-Life.” (Irish Journal of Feminist Studies; vol. 4, issue 1, Cork: Cork
University Press, 2000: pp. 73-90) pp. 78-79.
32
- 43 -
counselling agencies such as Life also take part in the debate, although distancing
themselves from the official pro-life movement. Various associations are indeed
spread in the country, which has been a strategic element of the success of the
movement both in rural and urban areas, contrary to the pro-choice movement which
has been much more urban-centred.
Another characteristic of the movement is the notion of confidentiality. Certain
of the key pillars of the lobby remain in the background. John O’Reilly, for instance,
through his numerous affiliations to different associations, established an important
network of campaigners during the 1983 campaign, while the shadowy Knights of St
Columbanus have regularly provided financial and other forms of support to the
campaigns.34
Thanks to this web-like structure, pro-life activists have been able to develop an
extended network of useful relationships, while keeping the same experienced leaders
in place.
2.3.2 Support
Either direct or indirect, material or moral, the support that the Irish pro-life
movement receives from other groups, institutions or public figures has greatly
contributed to the rallying of many people to the anti-abortion cause.
An important source of support for the Irish movement comes from
international pro-life activists, particularly from Great Britain and the United States.
In 1992, for instance, Human Life International donated $40,000 worth of posters,
pamphlets, photos and foetal models, used in the pro-life propaganda following the X
Case (Oaks, p. 88). American campaigners such as Father Paul Marx, Joe Scheidler
Brian Girvin, “Moral Politics and the Irish Abortion Referendums, 1992” (Parliamentary Affairs;
OUP, April 1994, vol.47, no. 2: pp.203-221) p. 204.
34
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or Rev. Ret Mahoney, are regularly invited to Ireland to give speeches at pro-life
conferences.35 Father Marx is especially remembered for his displaying of a preserved
foetus to school children, in the eighties (O’Reilly, p. 31). This transnational
“network of powerful forces which is working to ‘Keep Ireland Abortion-Free’”,
tends, however, to drive the issue away from an Irish-centred dimension (Oaks, p.
78). Olivia Gans, an American pro-life activist who had an abortion in the seventies,
was recently invited to tell her story to Irish students, in NUI Galway. She skilfully
described the appalling conditions in which the abortion was performed (lack of
hygiene, of psychological support…), and managed to initiate a feeling of indignation
among the audience who soon forgot that the abortion had taken place some twenty
years ago, in the United States, where any doctor is allowed to perform a termination
of pregnancy. This experienced orator’s story reinforced the anti-abortion positions of
most people in the theatre, as they probably associated the legalization of abortion in
Ireland with American excessive laissez-faire in that field.
Other crucial backing comes from Irish main medical associations, such as the
Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the Medical Council, whose ethical
guidelines clearly forbid abortion. The support of doctors and obstetricians is a key
element in the debate on abortion, as the battle is often fought on medico-legal
grounds. The practitioners’ argument that abortion is never necessary to save the life
of a woman influences both public opinion and legislators. As for doctors, they are
influenced in their practice by the ethical guidelines, since if they failed to follow it
they might be barred from the profession.
The most influential support, however, in a country where 90% of the
population is Catholic, is that of the Church. Although some pro-life groups wish to
Vicky Randall, “ The Politics of Abortion in Ireland.” (J. Lovenduski, and J. Outshoorn (ed.), The
New Politics of Abortion, London: Sage Publications, 1986: pp. 67-85) p. 70.
35
- 45 -
remain free from overt clerical involvement, the support of the Catholic hierarchy has
been decisive in giving legitimacy to the lobby. Indeed, the sets of arguments used by
the Church and the pro-life movement are identical, and during the campaigns of
1983 and 1992, many priests preached in favour of the amendments that echoed a
pro-life stance. Besides, church gate collections and canvassing also testify to the
Church’s blessing of pro-life activities. At a higher level in the Catholic hierarchy, the
visit of Pope John Paul II to Ireland in 1979 gave strength to the traditionalist
movement which, at that time, was fighting against the liberalization of contraception,
and would launch the Pro-Life Amendment Campaign a couple of years later. In
1995, the Pope granted a private audience to representatives of Youth Defence, an
event that is much exploited by the group, as it legitimates its activities which are
sometimes controversial.36 More recently, the appointment as Cardinal of Dr.
Desmond Connell can be interpreted as another sign of support to pro-life
organizations from Rome. Indeed, the Archbishop of Dublin is known for his backing
of the Church’s ban on contraception, and “has been to the fore in pushing for another
referendum on abortion.”37 The local and informal support provided by clerical orders
is associated to a symbolic but nevertheless effective recognition of the movement by
higher circles of the Catholic hierarchy. This probably influences many people in
Ireland, particularly those who may not have been convinced by the medico-legal
approach to the issue.
2.3.3 Arguments and Strategies
Pro-life groups have developed a whole set of arguments and strategies. Some
are “politically correct”, and are directed, fairly enough, to politicians and legislators,
36
37
www.youthdefence.ie/pope/pope2.htm
Irish Times, Monday, January 22, 2001, “ Archbishop Connell is Rome’s son in Ireland.”
- 46 -
in order to demonstrate the good faith and reliability of the lobby. Others are more
extreme: they are designed to attract public opinion’s attention, and seek to gain
grassroots support.
Religious and ethical arguments are at the basis of the movement, which claims
that the foetus is given a soul at fertilization time, and that it is a full human being
who has human rights. To give strength to these moral arguments, the groups have
developed a scientific discourse, putting the emphasis on the early formation of the
foetus’s heart or brain, two parts of the human body that traditionally characterize
Man’s distinctive capacity to feel and to think.
As the movement has often been reproached with focusing solely on the
embryo, and with having no consideration for the woman, a new set of arguments was
set up recently to counter pro-choice discourse on women’s rights. Studies on the
physical and psychological consequences of abortion for women are now regularly
quoted in conferences and debates organised by pro-life activists. Statistics on
increasing risks of miscarriage or infertility due to abortion are echoed by shock
sentences such as: “you aborted the only child you’d ever have”. However, this
relative concern for women can be questioned when activists claim that “the common
good cannot be promoted through the violation of basic rights, such as the right to
life, and [that] the common good requires the restriction of individual rights in some
respects” (Green Paper, p. 69). Obviously, it is the pregnant women’s rights that must
be restricted here. The notion of women’s sacrifice thus remains fully part of the prolife discourse. Besides, some very conservative and backward arguments are
advanced from time to time. A member of Women Centre Nation Wide, a pregnancy
counselling centre, declared in a debate that “women [were] going against their
- 47 -
nature, when they underwent an abortion”. The equation between womanhood and
motherhood appears clearly in this formula, which echoes the Irish Constitution.
Various effective tactics have been set up by pro-life activists and are used in
anti-abortion submissions to the government, in the “information” sessions given in
schools, and in the day-to-day propaganda of the movement. Misinformation,
manipulation of statistics or vocabulary are commonplace. Some groups claim to be
“pro-choice”, and advocate an “informed” decision, if women are to opt for an
abortion abroad. According to these activists the information provided should be
composed of alarmist statistics revealing, for instance, that one third of women
attempts suicide after an abortion. The reliability of pro-life analyses seems
questionable when one reads in a study that “it has been noted that there is a tendency
for non-marital relationships to break up after an abortion”.38 This rationale, which
suggests that abortion is at the origin of the breakdown of many relationships, tends
to dismiss other factors that may reverse this statement. It may be argued that the
decision to have an abortion was made because of the couple’s awareness of their
unstable relationship!
Activists commonly use “verbal control”. Described by pro-choice groups as
being “anti-choice”, pro-life people want to get rid of this negative appellation and
present themselves as offering choice both to the foetus and to the woman. For
women this choice corresponds to the possibility of keeping their baby, through the
providing of grants and accommodation. Although this is positive for women who
decide to have an abortion because they lack financial means to bring up a child, this
is not a solution for women who opt for an abortion for other reasons. In this light,
pro-life choice appears to be quite limited. Other activists play on people’s ignorance
38
P. Doherty (ed.), Post-Abortion Syndrome (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1995).
- 48 -
of the legal situation in Ireland. When asked (three times) whether Women Centre
Nation Wide gave information on abortion, a representative of this counselling centre
declared that it would be illegal to do so. As seen previously, the provision of
information such as phone numbers and addresses of abortion clinics abroad was
legal since 1995. When he was told so, the speaker awkwardly rectified his statement,
declaring that referral was illegal. Many women who travel to Great Britain to avail
themselves of an abortion do not obtain information from their doctors or counselling
agencies (Women and Crisis Pregnancy). Indeed, who would take the risk of asking
for information which is believed to be illegal? Another striking example of this
manipulation of vocabulary can be noted in the debate that takes place currently on
the medical necessity of an abortion to save the life of a woman. A catchphrase of the
movement is that “abortion is never necessary to save the life of the mother”. It is
said that the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the Irish Medical
Council uphold this argument.39 This claim relies on the distinction between direct
and indirect abortions, which derives from the moral doctrine of double effect
advocated by the Catholic Church. A direct abortion would have for its main purpose
to terminate the pregnancy, while an indirect abortion is considered to have the
purpose of saving the woman’s life. In both cases an abortion, as the word is
commonly understood, takes place. Yet, pro-life activists claim that indirect abortion
is a treatment, not an abortion. Most Irish people are not aware of this medical
distinction. They are told a half truth which may convince them to vote in favour of a
very conservative amendment, thinking that women’s lives are not endangered by a
prohibition of abortion.
39
All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution Fifth Progress Report, Abortion (Dublin:
Stationery Office, 2000) chapter 3.
- 49 -
Another tactic used by the pro-life movement is emotionalism. Pictures of
aborted foetus displayed in front of pro-choice counselling agencies, videos shown to
schoolchildren picturing abortions being carried out and dead foetus, equation
between abortion and Holocaust, depiction of blood-thirsty businessmen making
money from the “abortion commerce”, all are designed to trigger an instinctive
repulsion toward abortion, wiping out any consideration of women’s point of view.
The support of legal advisers has also allowed the movement to play on more
concrete grounds. Legal action was taken in the eighties by pro-life organisations,
such as SPUC, against people or groups which were providing addresses and phone
numbers of abortion clinics at a time when it was illegal to do so.
The Irish pro-life movement is a well organised and financed organization
whose strength must not be underestimated. Added to the backing of the Church and
of an important part of the medical profession, its activities and propaganda reach a
large public, whether young or old, from rural or urban setting, working or middle
class people. Although the anti-abortion lobby increasingly puts medical and
scientific arguments forward, the groups’ positions are nevertheless derived mainly
from Church’s moral teaching. The lack of concern for the women in the debate
reflects traditional Catholic influences. Paradoxically, many women support the
movement. Some commentators argue that many of these women are afraid to lose
what has defined them for decades. Motherhood, as seen previously, was presented as
a major element of women’s identity. A move away from motherhood, through a
right to abortion, threatens this social identity that gave women a certain social status.
The support of influential individuals such as Senator Des Hanafin or Professor
John Bonnar, has also been crucial to enable the lobby to legitimate their activities
and to pressure politicians at election-time into promising to act on abortion. The
- 50 -
1997 general election was no exception, and the Fianna Fail Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern,
did make a commitment to introduce legislation or support a referendum if returned
to government.
Conclusion
Irish society is very conservative, particularly in the field of sexual morality.
Historical and cultural factors may account for this, as Ireland has remained, much
longer than other European countries, a rural society dominated by a traditional rural
ideology. As a result of the peculiar political situation of the country this rural culture
was highly idealized and widespread until the eighties. The central role played by
women in the institution of family as wives and mothers, characteristic of the peasant
tradition and reinforced by the Irish socio-economic context, is embodied in the
Constitution itself despite an increasing questioning of its relevance in today’s
modern society.
This feminine ideal has been upheld by a powerful institution, the Catholic
Church, which exercises a strong influence in key sectors of Irish society. The lasting
monopoly of the Church in the areas of social welfare, health and education is indeed
a major factor of Irish backwardness in the field of sexual morality. Irish people are in
close contact with the Church from the cradle to the grave through regular attendance
to the mass, a school system still largely dominated by clerical orders, charity
organization and institutions owned by the Church and permeated by the Catholic
ethos.
A modern alternative to religious vocation, the involvement of Irish people in
or their support of traditionalist associations opposing any form of liberalization, and
indeed secularization, has been a feature of the Irish society since the early seventies.
- 51 -
These conservative groups have mobilized against contraception, divorce,
homosexuality, and of course abortion. By its structure, its numerous strategies, and
influential supporters, the pro-life movement has played a major role in the way
people perceive abortion, and consequently, in the legislation enacted. Its early
victories, however, must be qualified. The success of the Eight Amendment in 1983
was “easy”, given the nature of a society that had the highest rate of church
attendance in the world. The increasing secularization of Ireland may have important
consequences for Irish people’s moral choices. The 1992 referendums testified that
people’s positions on abortion were no longer as clear-cut as they were ten years
earlier.
This progressive evolution is the result of several factors. Feminism, mass
media, international interferences, and the modernization of Irish society, have all
contributed to the decline of the Catholic Church’s influence, and to Ireland’s
increasing tolerance in matters related to sexual morality, among them abortion.
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PART THREE
Toward a Liberal Society?
Factors of Change
- 53 -
Introduction
A particular feature of the Republic of Ireland has been its exceptionally rapid
shift from a highly rural and traditional society to an industrial and post-industrial
one. The Celtic Tiger has indeed caught up in a few decades with what its European
counterparts have achieved in almost a century. Both economic and social changes
have taken place in Ireland, and it seems that the new social attitudes are supportive
of a more tolerant, less rigid and more open society. The legalization of
homosexuality in 1993, and divorce in 1995 upholds this assumption. Similarly,
opposition to abortion declined significantly between the early eighties and the late
nineties. In 1981, 83% of the people involved in the European Values Survey thought
that abortion was never justified, while this figure dropped to 60% in 1999.40 This
evolution can also be observed if one compares the outcome of the different referenda
held on the issue. In 1983, the very conservative Eighth Amendment was accepted by
a large majority of the Irish population. In 1992, the outcome of the three referenda
did not reflect such a clear-cut position against abortion. Irish voters adopted a more
liberal stance on the subject, as they recognized a right to obtain information on
abortion, and the right to travel abroad to avail of this service.41 The increasing
number of women who do have an abortion abroad, (from 4,154 in 199142 to more
than 6,000 in 199943), also implicates a liberalization of women’s views on the issue.
As some commentators have argued, however, it is possible that these increasing
figures reflect a rise not in the actual number of abortions performed on Irish women,
but in the number of Irish women giving their address in Ireland to the British clinics,
40
Tony Fahey, Comments on the 1999 European Values Survey. Section on: Family, Gender and
Sexuality. Unpublished
41
N. Hardiman, and Ch. Whelan, “Changing Values.”(W. Crotty, and D. E. Schmitt (eds.), Ireland and
the Politics of Change, London: Longman, 1998): p. 76.
42
Evelyne Mahon, Women and crisis pregnancy, p. 31.
43
Irish Times, Tuesday, March 13th, 2001, “The 1861 Act on abortion could be the way forward”.
- 54 -
which is the only way to register the patient as Irish. Even in this case the trend
suggests an increasing acceptance of abortion, as this means that Irish women are less
frightened to give their particulars in Ireland, when until now they might have
preferred to give the address of a friend or relative living in England, for the sake of
confidentiality.
A liberal wind seems to have blown on Irish society during the last two decades.
It is necessary to study the origins of this “wind of change”, as they may have, sooner
or later, a direct influence on the legislation on abortion. Several combined factors
have been involved in the undermining of what is largely Catholic moral values, and
thus in the process of secularization of Irish society. It is probable that these factors
would not have been as influential as they have been, if operating independently. The
first factor of this transformation is the process of modernization experienced by Irish
society and initiated by a rapid economic expansion. Closely linked to this
development of the Irish economy, the media have also been recognized as major
actors in the evolution of people’s systems of values. Feminism and the movements
for women’s rights played a chief part in this change too, challenging traditional and
largely accepted stereotypes. Finally, the European Union participated in the
liberalization of Irish mores and laws, despite limited powers in the social field.
3.1 The Modernization Process
The process of modernization that has been taking place in Ireland since the last
decades has had a strong impact on the social structure and the moral values of the
country. The new economic policies launched by the Irish government in the fifties
had two major long-term consequences. Firstly, they led to a transformation of the
- 55 -
nature of employment with a rapid development of the industrial and services sectors,
paralleled by a decrease in the agricultural sector. Secondly, they facilitated the
increasing participation of women on the work market, particularly married women,
only 5% of whom worked in 1961, contrary to 37% in 1996. The shift from rural
employment to jobs belonging mainly to the service sector caused a change in
attitudes and an evolution of the Irish moral code. Indeed, the notion of hierarchy,
central to rural societies, has been progressively replaced by communication and selfexpression, characteristics of post-industrial liberal societies.44 People in the new
economic sectors are encouraged to show initiative, and to be imaginative and
responsible, qualities that highly contrast with conformity and obedience, praised by
traditional societies.45 Besides, although the growth of women’s involvement was
slowed down prior to the eighties by discriminatory employment policies, more and
more women have broken away from the traditional gender role enshrined in the
Constitution. Those women, mostly employed in the services sector, are thus subject
to the daily influence of modern secular values, which leads them to put traditional
Catholic values in perspective. This change in women’s attitudes toward religion is
all the more important since it is often they who hand on faith to their children. A
weaker commitment of women in this field strongly participates in the secularization
of Irish society (Tom Inglis, Moral Monopoly).
Besides, the general change in employment patterns has led to the transition
from a largely rural society to an urban one (today, around one third of the Irish
population lives in the greater Dublin area),46 which in turn has led to a cultural
R. Inglehart and W. E. Baker, “ Modernization, Cultural Change, and the Persistance of Traditional
Values.”(American Sociological Review, vol. 65, no. 1: pp. 19-51).
45
M. P. Hornsby-Smith and C. T.Whelan, “Religious and Moral Values” (C. T. Whelan (ed.), Values
and Social Change in Ireland, Dublin: Gill and MacMillan, 1994): p. 38.
46
M. P. Hornsby-Smith and C. T. Whelan, “Religious and Moral Values” (Values and social change in
Ireland, 1994): p. 15.
44
- 56 -
adjustment. The religious world-view typical of traditional rural societies has been
progressively replaced by the “emergence of secularized, and individualized,
religious and moral values” (Hornsby-Smith and Whelan, p. 3). The new urban
society is indeed concerned by materialism, consumerism and individualism, and
looks for quality of life and personal well-being, when the agricultural society was
more concerned by mere survival and community life. As a consequence of
urbanization, the importance of institutionalized religion has declined, as was testified
by the drop in weekly church attendance from 83% in 1981, to 67% in 1994,47 as well
as the decrease in the number of people belonging to a religious denomination. This is
confirmed by the fact that fewer people in urban areas than in rural areas attend
church weekly (respectively 53% and 76% in 1994) (Hardiman and Whelan, p. 73).
This can be understood as being a rejection of the old unquestioned official moral
values. Indeed, this shift is paralleled by an increase in Irish people’s tendency to
stress independence as an important value: in 1980, only 30% of the population
thought that children should be encouraged to be independent, while 51.2% thought
so in 1999 (European Values Survey 1999). Moral independence may indeed be
noticed among people who, although Catholic, rarely or never attend church. On the
abortion question, for instance, “only” 49% of this category of Catholics considers
that abortion is never justified, while this figure rise to 74% for people who attend
church frequently (European Values Survey 1999). Urbanization and secularization
are thus linked, and have led many people to accord greater importance to personal
choice and moral autonomy, and move away from the Catholic Church’s teaching on
issues such as abortion. The increasing materialism of Irish contemporary society also
probably accounts for the increasing tolerance toward abortion, as people often agree
N. Hardiman and Ch. Whelan, “Changing Values” (Ireland and the politics of change): p. 72.
47
- 57 -
that parents should be able to offer some material and financial comfort to their
children, to secure a standard of living ranging from decent food and clothing to
educational opportunities.
Another feature of modernization has been an increasing participation in second
and third level education. Free and compulsory access to secondary education from
1968 onwards, and a developing system of grants for university has allowed more
people to have a higher education level. “Because of the rationalizing and
individualizing influences associated with education” (Hardiman and Whelan, p. 71),
educated people tend to diverge from traditional values and behaviours, and adopt a
critical stance toward the Church’s moral teaching. For instance, 60% of Irish people
under 45 with incomplete second level education consider that abortion is never
justified, contrasting with 36% of those with a third level degree. The gap between
the two educational categories is narrowing among people over 45 years old, with
respectively 82% and 74% opposing abortion (European Values Survey 1999).48 An
explanation for this could be the strong influence exercised by the Church at
university level, up to the seventies. However, this assumption must be qualified as in
the case of divorce and homosexuality (both condemned by the Catholic hierarchy,
like abortion), a wide gulf exists between the two educational groups, regardless of
age consideration. In any case, both education and age play an important role in
attitudes toward abortion. A widening of the gap between old and young characterizes
the nineties, in particular. Whereas the eighties have witnessed a general increase in
tolerance of abortion, between 1990 and 1999 opposition to abortion continued to
decline among the young but rose among older age cohorts. It has been argued that
the views held by the younger and better educated could be taken as an indication of
48
Cf. Appendix Two.
- 58 -
the direction the society was heading in.49 One can thus expect that the actual trend
will lead, in the long run, to a widespread acceptance of abortion.
Associated to education and employment is the question of emigration. Indeed,
in Ireland, emigration has been synonymous with the exportation of the unsatisfied.
The Irish rural economy being unable for a long time to provide employment to
young people, they preferred to emigrate. From the seventies to the early nineties, an
increasing section of these emigrants were individuals with third level education in
search of better opportunities abroad. Some commentators argue that when emigrants
return to Ireland on an occasional or a regular basis, they bring liberal values from
their adoptive country, which has an impact on their community.50 Other observers,
however, consider that the emigration of the young and better educated could lead to
a senilization of Irish society whose older members support traditionalist and
conservative movements. This theory could explain Ireland’s conservatism on certain
moral issues. Yet, this hypothesis must be considered with caution. Despite a much
higher emigration rate in the eighties than in the nineties, the general evolution
toward tolerant views on abortion was faster in the eighties than in the nineties.51
These different aspects of the modernization process have led to considerable
changes in Irish people attitudes toward moral principles set up by the Church. This
new approach to morality and to the Church itself has been encouraged by the
development of mass media, which played a tremendous role in the liberalization of
Irish society.
3.2 Influence of the Media
William Crotty, “ Democratisation and Political Development in Ireland” (Ireland and the Politics of
Change, 1998): p. 16.
50
M. Corish, “Aspect of the Secularisation of Irish Society (1958-1996)” (Faith and Culture in the
Irish Context, 1996): p. 145.
51
Cf. Appendix Two
49
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Originally, radio and television were designed to be carriers of Irish national
identity. They were intended to promote Irish traditional values and culture through
the broadcasting of Irish music, programmes in Gaelic, and even soaps reflecting
rural life and its moral code. The influence of the Church on legislators had resulted
in severe censorship, which prevented the Irish media’s drifting away from Catholic
social teaching (Inglis, Moral Monopoly). However, the media increasingly became
carriers of modern liberal ideas, and finally turned to be a powerful force of
opposition to the religious and political Establishments.
3.2.1 Irish Insularity Undermined
Both geographical and social factors made of Ireland, until the sixties, a
relatively homogenous, closed, Catholic culture.52 The development of mass media,
particularly television, led Irish society toward a culture no longer based on a single
fixed identity but on a multiplicity of identities (Tovey and Share). Irish television
began broadcasting in 1961. As early as 1966, 85% of Irish homes had a television set
(Tovey and Share, p. 376). This little box became a window overlooking a broader
cultural landscape than the one offered so far to Irish people. Programmes imported
from the United States and Great Britain pictured new life-styles, carried new
symbols and a new language, which in general encouraged self-realization and self
expression, while the message of the Church was essentially about self-abnegation
and self-denial (Inglis, Moral Monopoly, p. 232). Advertising played an important
part too in its promoting of consumerism, entertainment and materialism, when until
then Irish people had been encouraged by priests to live a simple life based on frugal
comfort. The reflection of social changes as broadcast in imported programmes
52
H. Tovey and P. Share, A Sociology of Ireland (Dublin: Gill and MacMillan, 2000)
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directly challenged the Irish social system. The traditional gender role organization
was confronted to images of an urban model, which was often associated to greater
independence for women. The impact of foreign programmes had been expected by
members of the Social Study Conference, who emphasized, in 1961, the need to
defend traditional values. Indeed,
programmes on married life, which would stress the vocation of motherhood, its
satisfaction and trials were, they felt, particularly necessary as an antidote to the constant
repetition in films and plays from BBC and UTV of the theme of broken marriage and
delinquent children.53
The influence of foreign cultures carried through mass media thus provided an
alternative value system to Ireland. The mediatization of events taking place within
Irish society itself also encouraged people to be aware that Ireland could be part of
this social modernization.
3.2.2 Media and Women’s Issues
From the seventies onwards, the Irish media have greatly participated in the
spreading of the ideas of the women’s movement. The fact that many journalists took
part in the setting up of the Women’s Liberation Movement testifies to the general
sympathy of the media toward feminist claims. Irish newspapers and television
covered events organized by the movement, giving a powerful voice to the activists.
For instance, the “Contraceptive Train” of 1971, which brought condoms and
spermicides illegally from Belfast to Dublin, was highly mediatized, and aroused the
Irish audience’s interest in the contraception issue. More recently, the media made of
the X case a public matter, revealing that a teenage girl was prevented from leaving
53
Luke Gibbon, Transformations in Irish Culture (Cork: University Press, 1996): p. 50.
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the country to have an abortion in Britain. It is highly probable that the media
coverage of this case influenced the Supreme Court’s Judgment to allow X to go to
Great Britain.54 Indeed, the media’s reports of the High Court injunction against the
young girl provoked the indignation of the Irish audience who favoured a liberal
outcome for the case. Public pressure, resulting from the coverage of the event, was
mobilized again in 1997, in a similar case, and allowed another teenager to have an
abortion in Great Britain. The C case thus recognized the X case as a legal precedent,
although it had been at the centre of a controversy since 1992. Pro-life advocates
indeed claimed, and still do, that the threat of suicide should not be accepted as a
ground for abortion, as it was in the X and C cases. Yet, many people were moved by
the cases, and appeared to have more liberal views toward abortion after the 1997
case. A poll carried out in April 1997 reported that 70% of Irish people were opposed
to the legalisation of abortion.55 A new poll, carried out after the case, revealed that
77% of the population believed that abortion should be permitted under certain
circumstances (Hug, p. 262). Furthermore, in the nineties, the broadcasting of
documentary films on abortion, such as “50,000 Secret Journeys” (RTE), or “Silent
Export Producers” (BBC), has allowed a rationalization of the debate, as they focused
on the actual experiences of women who had an abortion, and moved away from a
black and white picture of the issue. However, open discussion of such a subject in
Ireland is not always welcome. The presenter of “50,000 Secret Journeys” (broadcast
in 1994 on the national channel, RTE) specified, before the documentary started, that
parents may feel that the programme would be unsuitable for young children, as if the
film she was going to show was either extremely violent, or had “explicit scenes”,
which was not the case. She added that some people might not want to watch this
54
Although X did not actually had an abortion but a miscarriage.
B. Girvin, “Consensus and Political Competition in the Irish Republic: The 1997 Election”
(Parliamentary Affairs; OUP, January 1998, Vol. 51, no. 1): p. 91.
55
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programme because of the subject it dealt with, which remains taboo in Ireland, to a
certain extent.
3.2.3 Irish Media: From Private to Public
Discussion in the public sphere of abortion, a matter which has been deemed for
decades to belong to the private sphere, has become possible thanks to the media. The
“publicising” of privacy has been achieved gradually, partly with the development of
talk shows and soaps. Ireland has indeed adopted these types of programmes, which
originated in the United States and Great Britain, and adapted them to the Irish
setting. The broadcasting of these two genres has provided a space for public debate
and self-expression that challenged the traditional dogmatism and secrecy of the
Catholic Church. A famous instance of this irruption of privacy onto the public scene
took place in 1966, in Gay Byrne’s “Late Late Show”, a live programme created in
1962, “which was to become a national forum of outspoken challenge and debate”.56
The episode, known as the “Bishop and the Nightie” gave rise to a national
controversy. As part of a game in the show, a woman was asked what the colour of
her nightdress was on her wedding night. She suggested that perhaps she had not
worn any nightdress, which was greeted by laugh among the audience. After the
programme, however, Gay Burn received a phone call informing him that a Bishop,
who had watched the show, intended to condemn it in his Sunday sermon, as he
considered it objectionable and disgusting (Kenny, p. 265). Reference, even implicit,
to sexual activity was unwelcome in a public context, and the Bishop had been
anxious to make this clear. Yet this religious intervention did not prevent the media
from becoming the promoters of public discussions on social taboos, and in 1992 the
56
Mary Kenny, Goodbye to Catholic Ireland (London: Sinclair-Stevenson, 1997): p. 264.
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“Late Late Show” devoted a programme to the abortion issue.57 Talk radio has also
provided a space where socio-sexual issues can be discussed by those with direct
experience of them,58 in contrast to the monopoly of “experts”, politicians, and
members of the clergy who have dominated recent debates on moral issues. In the
case of abortion “talk radio can be seen as having a role to play in forcing women’s
private experience into a very public arena; once these experiences have been
articulated they become much more difficult to ignore” (O’Sullivan, p. 183).
But the media do not only act as “eye-opener”, they also reflect changes taking
place within Irish society itself. Irish soaps particularly indicate the concerns of Irish
people. Series have evolved from the depiction, in early episodes, of an idealised rural
life, to the description of individual and personal dilemmas, which are not solved by
easy and over-simplistic solutions. Issues such as contraception, divorce and adultery
have been introduced gradually in Irish soaps, which is both an acknowledgment that
change is taking place in Ireland and an incentive to discuss the matter. In this way,
the abortion issue was broached recently in “Fair City”, a much watched Irish soap
whose viewing levels went up to 756,000 at their peak, when the “abortion episodes”
were broadcast, in January 2001.59 This reveals the importance of the issue in today’s
Irish society.
3.2.4 The Church and Sex Scandals
The promotion of new values and ideas by the media has been eased up with
highly publicized scandals involving the Church which had remained untouchable
and untouched as late as the nineties.
Evelyne Mahon, “From Democracy to Femocracy: The Women’s Movement in the Republic of
Ireland” (Irish Society: Sociological Perspective, 1995): p. 701.
58
S. O’Sullivan, “The Ryan Line is now Open…Talk Radio and the Public Sphere” (Media Audiences
in Ireland): p. 182.
59
Irish Independent, Monday, February 12th, 2001, “Lecherous boss to pull Fair City fans”.
57
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Although media appeared, throughout the last three decades, to be liberal actors
on the Irish scene, it is only since the early nineties that stories concerning the Church
stopped being solely about “the death, retirement and appointment of bishops”
(Inglis, Moral Monopoly, p. 216), and started to show another side of the Catholic
clergy. Two revelations about members of the Irish clergy particularly damaged the
Church’s image in the eyes of Irish people. The Casey affair revealed, in 1992, that
the bishop of Galway had a teenage son, and sent clerical money to the mother to buy
her silence. In 1994, the Brendan Smyth affair disclosed the case of a Brother abusing
sexually several children. Many other sex scandals involving the Church emerged in
the last ten years, the latest concerning Irish missionary priests who raped nuns,
sometimes forcing them to be on the pill, and in one case to have an abortion.60 Yet, if
Irish Catholics can come to terms with accepting that the individuals involved in
these scandals were a small minority among the clergy, they have been more reluctant
to accept the reaction of the Catholic hierarchy. Indeed, in early cases the Church
proved unable to “confess its own sins” and opted for silence rather than an open
debate on these issues. This has further accelerated the process of secularization
already in place. An opinion poll in 1995 showed that 42% of Irish Catholics had lost
some respect for the Church because of these revelations (Inglis, Moral Monopoly, p.
219). Many priests also felt that Catholic teaching on moral issues had been
undermined. They were right, as an increasing number of Catholics follow their own
conscience when they have to make a moral decision, and ignore the traditional
sexual ethics.61
Irish media have played a key role in the liberalization of Irish society, offering
new perspectives and values from abroad, reflecting change in Ireland itself and
60
61
Irish Times, March 21st, 2001, “Church sources puzzled by claims about nuns”.
Irish Independent, November 28th, 2000, “Priests still respected, survey shows”.
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providing a space for open debate, when so far the confessional was the main place
where personal experiences could be disclosed. This has favoured a questioning of
the ideals promoted by a Church which has been directly challenged by a new force
in the field of morality: mass media themselves.
3.3 Women’s Action
Another factor of change within Irish society has been, from the seventies
onwards, the involvement of women in the struggle against social conservatism and
gender roles. Although the issue of abortion was left aside among the general
women’s movement, because it was too controversial and divisive, the action of
women’s groups indirectly affected the way this question was perceived by Irish
people. On one hand, consciousness-raising, associated to the development of local
organizations, have led to an increasing awareness of and support for women’s issues.
On the other hand, political and legal mobilization have brought effective changes in
Irish legislation.
3.3.1 Consciousness-Raising
One of the most effective achievements of the women’s movement was that it
alerted Irish people, and particularly women, about the unequal treatment reserved to
women in Irish society. Feminists drew attention to issues about equal pay or
reproductive rights in a society that did not acknowledge those questions as potential
sources of inequality or oppression. In order to disseminate their ideas, members of
the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement (IWLM), set up in 1970, began to focus on
formulating a series of gender-specific demands, highlighting the social and
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economic discrimination against women. In their first manifesto, “ Chains or Change:
the Civil Wrongs of Irish Women”, feminist activists identified the patriarchal
character of existing legislation and policy. If no allusion to abortion was made at this
stage, the campaigning of the movement for the legalization of contraception brought
into the debate arguments which were to be used a few years later to claim a right to
abortion. The notion of bodily integrity and the right of women to control their
reproduction are indeed common to both issues and initiated a new understanding of
women’s role in Irish society. The traditional identity of women as wives and mothers
was further questioned when women’s groups fought for the removal of restrictive
employment legislation. These first claims, if not as extreme as those defended by
other European women’s movements, were nevertheless backed by new concepts that
led people to examine Irish society from a new perspective. These concerns and ideas
were publicized through various ways. The IWLM organised media covered events,
such as the “Contraceptive Train”, a picket on the Dail, (where they chanted: “We
shall not conceive”), a picket on the Eurovision Song Contest, and ardent
demonstrations on highly controversial issues. An episode of the popular “Late Late
Show” was also devoted to the Women’s Movement (Mahon, p. 681). The growing
interest of the mass media in feminism indeed ensured the rapid spreading of the
movement’s ideology, which gained increasing public support. Direct action was
highly effective in attracting people’s attention and educating the mass. This strategy,
however, has been progressively replaced by an intellectualization of the issues,
which led to the development of women’s studies’ networks and the flowering of
feminist publishing. Focusing on the abortion issue, the pro-choice movements played
an important role in the consciousness-raising process, as it proposed an alternative
view of the notion of “life” defended by the Catholic Church. The idea that “life”
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could imply more than bodily life was submitted to Irish people, who lived in a
society where the psychological, social and emotional well-being of an individual was
more and more considered to be a crucial component of someone’s life. The emphasis
was put on women’s right to have a life of their own, while so far sacrifice had
characterized Irish women’s social identity.
3.3.2 Women’s Social Action
Another form of action initiated by women, has been the setting up of agencies
that establish a direct contact with other women, providing them with information and
social services. It must be said, to be fair, that some women’s organizations already
existed before the mobilization of the liberal feminist movement, but they were rather
traditional in spirit if not conservative in their demands. The new organizations
addressed “problems arising from the unequal power relationship between women
and men in terms of sex and sexuality” (Galligan, Women and Politics, p. 57.), while
the early associations were more concerned with economic issues and did not
challenge traditional roles. “Liberal” feminists set up the first refuge for battered
women in Dublin, in 1974, and the first Rape Crisis Centre was opened in 1979.
Similarly, the Women’s Right to Chose Group set up, in 1980, the Irish Pregnancy
Counselling Centre, the first centre which discussed abortion as an option for women
who did not want to go through with their pregnancy (Hug, p. 146). This form of
action has had two major consequences on Irish society. Firstly, the setting up of such
agencies is a form of acknowledgment of the existence of social issues which should
be dealt with in the public sphere. Rape, domestic violence, or crisis pregnancy were
no longer something to hide and to be ashamed of, but became abuses or problems
that the community should address. Secondly, this aspect of the women’s movement
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left a legacy that became apparent over time. New organizations of this type emerged
in the nineties and have empowered women, who are increasingly active, assessing
their own needs and developing a range of support groups and services at local level.
This testifies to Irish women moving one step further away from the private sphere
and its limited roles. Besides, these associations have been effective in their lobbying
of the successive governments for political representation and legal changes.
3.3.3 Political and Legal Action
The most symbolic political achievement of the women’s movement is probably
the election, in 1990, of an active feminist to the Irish Presidency: Mary Robinson.
The political involvement of feminist activists, however, started with the women’s
movement itself, in the seventies. Through their various activities, women managed
to place the issue of women’s rights on the political agendas of successive
governments. Traditional groups initially lobbied for the first Commission on the
Status of Women in the early seventies, and participated in its deliberations. This led
to the setting up of the Council for the Status of Women, still in existence today under
the name of National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI), and which acts as a
coordinating body for women’s organizations. The Council has been recognized by
successive governments as the official representative of women’s interests and is
consulted on a diverse range of policy issues with a potential impact on women
(Galligan, Women and Politics). Although a consensus on the abortion issue has not
been reached so far among the Council’s members, it nevertheless encouraged the
government to legislate on the travel and information questions, in 1992. Other
organizations have played a part in social policy-making, focusing on specific issues.
Cherish, a support group for lone parents (originally, for unmarried mothers), has
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influenced the development of more tolerant legislation regarding lone mothers or
illegitimate children, while the Rape Crisis Centres have made a significant
contribution to reforms in the law on sexual violence, such as the official recognition
of marital rape, in 1990. The Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA), which
incorporates feminist activists, played a similar role in the field of contraception, and
at this time is lobbying the government for the liberalization of abortion. The
mobilization of the women’s movement on employment policies has also had some
consequences on women’s position in Irish society. As seen previously, the easier
access to the work market led to a greater independence of women, and to a reevaluation of traditional gender roles. Furthermore, as women represent an increasing
part of the Irish labour force, and are as such economic actors, women’s issues are no
longer restricted to the domestic sphere, and have direct and indirect repercussions on
the public sector. Problems regarding parental leaves or childcare cannot be ignored,
as female participation in the labour force is much needed in today’s developing
Ireland. Their economic role has indeed given women more influential powers in the
political field. Political pressure is not always enough, however, to convince a
government to legislate on controversial issues such as contraception or abortion.
The simultaneous use and flouting of the law became tactically important to
disclose the inadequacy of Irish legislation on social and moral questions. The first
legalization on contraceptives followed a court case, the McGee case, in 1973. Mary
McGee was encouraged by members of the IFPA to go to court, as the Irish law
banned the use of contraceptives which she needed to avoid a pregnancy that could
put her life at risk. Her case reached the Supreme Court, which ruled in her favour.
Six years later the Health (Family Planning) Act was passed by the Irish parliament,
and legalized the prescription of contraceptives, if only for bona fide family planning
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purposes. In the early nineties, in order to bring the issue back on the political agenda,
the IFPA illegally sold condoms in a music shop in Dublin, and was subsequently
prosecuted. This new case sparked public interest in the issue, and forced the
government to propose further liberalization of the law in this field. Similar
approaches have been taken by pro-choice groups. The X case of 1992, and C case of
1997, both highly mediatized and probably encouraged by pro-choice individuals,
were used to exert pressure on the government. They were successful in so far as
public opinion was strongly moved by the cases and softened its intransigent views
on abortion, and as the court cases created legal precedents, which allowed some
form of abortion in Ireland.
3.4 European Influence
Criticized for being only aimed at promoting the economic interests of its
members, the European Union has nevertheless had some influence in the social field
and on the different countries’ social legislation. Although these changes have
resulted from the combined impact of modernization, media and the women’s
movement, and not from the EU influence alone, Europe did stimulate some
transformations of Irish society and challenged Irish laws, as it opened new horizons
to people in Ireland.
3.4.1 Social Influence
The decision Irish people made to join the European Community in 1972 was in
itself the symbol of a change operating in Irish minds. Ireland’s membership of what
was to become a supra-national body was the testimony to the evolution of the
country from a withdrawn nationalist society, to an open one, which accepted to add a
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“community touch” to its national institutions, although it may not always be
consistent with, and alter Irish traditional views of the world. This, indeed, is what
happened, as the EU became an important factor of modernization of Irish society.
The numerous funds accorded to Ireland by the EU facilitated its rapid economic
expansion, which led to key changes in Irish social organization and culture. The
European funding programmes for women’s associations encouraged further the
challenging of Irish traditional notion of gender roles, through the promotion of
locally based and indigenous pressure groups.
Besides, tourism has developed in Europe, and Irish people are increasingly
confronted to new cultures and ideologies, often more liberal than their own. Tourism
represents an important aspect of Ireland’s economy, and Irish people themselves
increasingly take holidays abroad. The opportunities to spend some time abroad have
also multiplied with the setting up of different European programmes, (for students or
workers), which facilitate the mobility of Irish people.
3.4.2 Influence on Irish Legislation
Europe’s influence on Irish social legislation started as early as Ireland’s entry
into the Common Market. Indeed, one of the requirements for Ireland’s membership
to the Community was the implementation of the Equal Pay Directive, which aimed
at securing equal wages between men and women. Faced with Ireland’s reluctance to
implement the directive, the European Commission clearly stated the obligation of the
new member to abide by community rules. As economic equality for women was on
the European agenda during the seventies, other directives undermined Irish sexist
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employment policy. After the removal of the Marriage Bar, which prevented married
women from working in the public sector, and in some areas of the private sector as
well, equal treatment legislation was progressively implemented. Although apparently
limited to the economic field, this policy had an indirect impact on the social field, as
more women were able to leave the private sphere, where they had been confined for
decades. Furthermore, the EU has exercised influence on Irish sexual morality
legislation through the judgments pronounced in the European Court of Justice (ECJ),
and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Several Irish citizens have indeed
brought their case to European level when they felt that the legislation of their
country went against their civil or human rights, and some of them won. When the
European courts rule that a country’s law is in breach of the European Convention of
Human Rights, or any other convention ratified by the member states, this country
must change its legislation and abide by the EU court’s judgment. The Irish
government has, in this way, been forced to legalize homosexuality. Similarly, in the
case opposing the Society for the Protection of the Unborn to two women’s health
centres, the ECHR ruled that the ban on information on abortion, imposed by the Irish
State, was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. Members of the
EU also strongly encouraged Ireland to secure the right to travel to its citizens. Both
rights were subsequently recognized in the 1992 referenda.
The EU has had a concrete and modernizing influence on several social issues,
in Ireland, whether through the use of its legal institutions, or in a less direct way. It
can be argued, however, that the changes carried out are limited. Regarding abortion,
the Irish government has indeed secured, in a European Protocol, the application of
article 40.3.3 of the Constitution, which sets a ban on abortion. One can think, then,
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that the acceptance of this clause by other member states is a door closed to further
challenge, by EU courts or directives, of Irish conservative legislation on the issue.
Conclusion
Ireland is no longer a society isolated in Catholicism and its conservative
traditions. It is a country that has been exposed to modernizing forces, both internal
and external, whose influences have transformed her deeply conformist religious
values into more liberal ones, close to the European “norms”. The rapid economic
growth of the Celtic Tiger has initiated the reorganization of Irish society, as well as a
questioning of former social models. Urbanization, the development of work
opportunities for women, and education are elements of the modernization process
which have led to a growing secularization of Irish society. This move toward secular
values has been accelerated by mass media. The broadcasting of foreign programmes
has brought alternative values to Irish people, while some Irish programmes have
provided a space to discuss personal experiences, which had been until then social
taboos. The mobilization of Irish women themselves has been essential in the
evolution of the country. Consciousness-raising has played a major role as it led
people to reassess commonly accepted assumptions regarding women’s role in
society. The women’s movement’s political, legal, and social struggle allowed
concrete changes to be carried out. Finally, the European Union has had practical
consequences on Irish women’s lives. If these factors have not always had a direct
influence on abortion, regarding Irish legislation on this matter for instance, they
nevertheless have had an impact on many people’s way of thinking, of contemplating
life, of considering the link between sexual activity and procreation, and of dealing
with the roles traditionally attributed to them. The impact of these modernizing
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factors can be noted more particularly among the younger members of the Irish
community. This part of the population has indeed grown up in an increasingly liberal
environment, and is thus more receptive to new values. As young people are more
likely to approve of abortion under certain circumstances than older generations, one
can thus expect that in a few years, or decades, a majority of the Irish population will
be in favour of a liberal legislation on this matter.
However, change is cohabiting with continuity. Secularization is taking place at
a slower pace than expected, considering Ireland’s level of modernization. Although
people have less trust in the institutional Church, they nevertheless keep strong
personal faith, and are more conservative than their European counterparts, regarding
family values. The Family is considered by more than 90% of Irish citizens as very
important in their life, and 37% think that “a job is all right, but what women really
want is a home and children.” Similarly, 60% agree that “being a housewife is just as
fulfilling as working for a pay” (European Values Survey 1999). This reflects a still
wide acceptance of traditional gender roles, one of which is motherhood. The issue of
abortion must thus be considered in this context, as 60% of Irish people think that a
termination of pregnancy is never justified. Abortion is, among sexual morality
questions, the issue that faces today the highest disapproval level in the Republic of
Ireland.
What are the Irish government’s responses in front of two conflicting forces,
one liberal, one conservative, which both gather support among the population and
exercise pressure on politicians?
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PART FOUR
A Referendum for the New Millenium?
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Introduction
Ireland is a dual society torn between social modernization, initiated by rapid
economic growth, and traditional values that have been a characteristic feature of
Irish identity and culture for decades. Although a small minority of the population
(whether conservative or liberal) has clear-cut views on abortion, the majority of Irish
people have no adamant position on the issue. This silent majority stands in between
two extremes, one of which is defended by the powerful vocal pro-life movement, the
other by pro-choice organizations. Since 1992, politicians have been reluctant to pass
any legislation that may alienate a large part of the electorate, while it has at the same
time responded positively to the pressure of the anti-abortion lobby. The State is itself
torn between conservatism and liberalism. During the last decade, the Irish
government has promoted change in the field of sexual morality: it decriminalized
homosexuality and submitted to the Irish People an amendment that legalized
divorce. As such, it can be considered to be a modern and liberal institution.
However, looking at some articles of its Constitution, one can wonder to what extent
the Irish State is liberal. Besides, it must be noted that governments are made up of
individuals who have their own convictions on the sensitive issue of abortion, which
has probably delayed further political and legal actions.
Current legal provisions, however, do need to be clarified. The X Case of 1992
has pointed to the possibility of abortion being legal on the Irish soil, when a woman
has suicidal tendencies. The then government had declared its intention to clarify the
situation and to pass legislation in accordance with the Supreme Court Judgment, if
the Twelfth Amendment which was intended to ban suicide as a ground for abortion
was rejected by Irish people. The amendment was rejected, but no legislation was
introduced. One of the electoral promises of the current government, elected in 1997,
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was to settle the issue. However, after being in office for almost four years, the
coalition Government still has not taken any concrete measure. Nevertheless, some
form of action has been set about since the mid-nineties. A study on women and crisis
pregnancy was commissioned by the Department of Health in 1995, a Green Paper on
abortion was issued in 1999, and in December 2000, a parliamentary committee on
abortion published its report, which is now being examined by a Cabinet
subcommittee. These documents have raised important issues, but are quite limited in
practice. The different options offered to the Government to solve the issue are
themselves limited, and reflect partisan attitudes, which will not satisfy the majority
of Irish people. Whatever the decision made by the Cabinet subcommittee, one can
argue that political considerations will further delay any concrete evolution of the
actual situation.
4.1 Limited Action Since 1995
4.1.1 The Women and Crisis Pregnancy Study (1998)
In 1995, the then Minister for Health, Michael Noonan, commissioned a study
on Irish women facing crisis pregnancy. The purpose of this research, carried out by a
team from Trinity College, was “to assist in the development and planning of future
health policy with a view to reducing the incidence of abortion among Irish women”
(Women and Crisis Pregnancy, p. 11). The first move of the Government was indeed
not to settle the legal dilemma created in 1992, and to provide adequate legislation
that would face the immediate need of thousands of Irish women to avail of abortion
services on the Irish soil. It rather focused on the origins of the growing number of
women seeking abortion abroad. This initiative was certainly the safest (politically),
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since both sides of the debate agreed on the necessity to reduce the number of
abortions, and crisis pregnancies in general.
Although this first step taken by the Government was tinged with political
cowardice, the study deserves credit for presenting an objective picture of the subject,
far from the black and white clichés offered by pro-life and pro-choice groups. This is
certainly due to its qualitative approach, as the research team decided to focus on the
experience of some two thousand women who had faced a crisis pregnancy, more
than one hundred of whom had had or planned to have an abortion. Many people,
particularly in the pro-choice camp, welcomed this approach that gave the
opportunity to those directly concerned by the abortion issue to express themselves.
So far, the official debate had indeed been monopolized by legal or medical experts,
without any consideration for women’s perception of the problem. Pro-life activists,
although acknowledging the value of the study, expressed their regrets that no
quantitative research was launched on the physical and psychological effects of
abortion.62 The argument according to which a woman is entitled to have an abortion
because she is the “owner” of her body, advocated by pro-choice activists, was
among the stereotypes undermined by the results of the study. They revealed that
women’s decision to have an abortion was rarely based on this sole rationale.
Besides, the authors of the research denied the pro-life reasoning that claims that
women are, most of the time, pressured by their partner into choosing an abortion. It
appeared from in depth interviews that the decision to have an abortion was always
left to the pregnant woman.
The report also identified factors responsible for the high number of women
seeking abortion. Among, them one can highlight the impact of traditional values on
Cf. Patricia Casey’s submission to the Oireachtas All-Party Committee on Abortion, All-Party
Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution Fifth Progress Report, Abortion. (Dublin: Stationery Office,
November 2000): p. A220.
62
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this matter. As seen previously, Ireland is caught between two systems of values.
Generally, liberal behaviours and ideas are widespread among young people, and the
conservative ones among older cohorts. This has created a generational gap,
particularly in the field of sexuality, which many young adults think cannot be
bridged. In front of their parents’ condemnation of sex before marriage, young
women prefer to keep their sexual activity secret. Contraception is thus not discussed
at home, and the girls are not encouraged to use contraceptives. Some prefer not to
use any, in case their parents could discover condoms or the pill, and find out about
their sexual activity. When a crisis pregnancy occurs, some of these young women
will opt for an abortion, to avoid the confrontation with their parents. Among the 88
women interviewed by the research team, only 10 told their parents that they had an
abortion (Women and Crisis Pregnancy, p. 275). Social attitudes on lone motherhood
also weighs during the decision-making process. The stigma that accompanies the
status of “unmarried mothers”, even when they have a steady relationship with the
father, discourages many women from continuing with their pregnancy, and accounts
for the high percentage of single women among those choosing abortion (Women and
Crisis Pregnancy, p. 32). So, paradoxically, the conservative moral code that
condemns abortion, shares at the same time the responsibility for the rate of women
having a termination of pregnancy.
The authors of the study suggested that sex education at school, particularly on
contraception, would be a necessary step to reduce the number of crisis pregnancies.
However, this recommendation seems difficult to implement. Indeed, it was
estimated, in 1999, that only 57% of primary schools, and 78% of second level
schools would teach RSE in 2000,63 although this programme was launched in 1997.
63
Irish Family Planning Association’s website: www.ifpa.ie/campaign/rse/rse.html.
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The reluctance with which schools have approached the Government’s sexual
education plan points to the difficulty of setting up a campaign praising the use of
contraceptives. Many people consider indeed that to advise teenagers on
contraceptive means, amounts to encouraging them to be sexually active. Some prolife activists have proposed instead a campaign designed to encourage young people
to delay their sexual activity.64
The research team recommended several forms of action to the Government,
aiming at reducing the number of abortions. However, their propositions have met
opposition from pro-life people, on issues such as contraception. The Government,
anxious not to displease the powerful lobby, has preferred to avoid any controversial
policies, so that very few effective measures have been taken since the publication of
the study, in 1998. Instead, the Government appointed a Cabinet Committee to draft a
Green Paper that was to consider further the issue of abortion.
4.1.2 Green Paper on Abortion (1999)
The Cabinet Committee was established in 1997 to oversee the drafting of the
Green Paper. Two years later, the document was published, and disseminated through
the Government Information Office, instead of the traditional launch by a minister,
illustrating “the distaste and inertia with which the Government [was] fulfilling its
pre-election promise to address the abortion issue.”65 Although long awaited, the
Green Paper was greeted with mixed feelings. It was valued as being the first official
document that considered the issue of abortion thoroughly, and broke away from the
divisive and bitter debate taking place in Ireland. The 1983 and 1992 amendments
Cf. P. Casey and B. O’Brien’s submission to the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on Abortion,
p. A220.
65
Irish Times, September 11th, 1999, “Confronting Reality”.
64
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submitted to the people had been, on the contrary, drafted under the pressure of the
two lobbies.
Yet, the Green Paper was criticized on other grounds. The document is mainly
a “statement of facts”: it takes stock of the legal situation of abortion, of Ireland’s
obligations in the international context, and summarizes the Women and Crisis
Pregnancy Study. The authors acknowledge the complexity of the issue, but provide
no answer to clarify certain points that would only necessitate a stable definition. The
Green Paper, for instance, does not settle the question of what is understood by
“abortion”, when the interpretation of the term is at the origin of many
misunderstandings. The distinction between direct and indirect abortion, or between
abortion and medical treatment, is at the basis of the pro-life advocacy of a total ban
on abortion, and seeks to convince politicians that women’s lives would not be
endangered by such a ban. As seen previously, this distinction is not well known to
the large public, who could be misled during a referendum on abortion. A clear and
unambiguous definition of the word would have been a first step toward a
clarification of the situation. This step was not taken, probably because this
vocabulary problem is itself a source of controversy likely to arouse resentment from
one or the other side of the debate.
Another criticism was the lack of interest in the actual experience of women,
with only 21 pages out of the 172 pages of the official document dedicated to the
consideration of social issues. The Green Paper restates issues raised by the authors of
the study on women and crisis pregnancy, but does not propose any immediate
measures which could address the underlying issue of unplanned pregnancy. The
Paper has thus been mostly effective in the legal field, as it offers seven potential
approaches to solve the legal quagmire. These options laid down by the Cabinet
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Committee include both conservative and liberal views. They range from an absolute
constitutional ban on abortion, to permitting abortion on grounds beyond those
specified in the X Case, and include the retention of the status quo. However, these
seven options have been reduced to three by the subsequent All-Party Oireachtas
Committee, which limit the Government’s choice to rather conservative approaches
to the problem.
4.1.3 Report of the All-Party Oireachtas Committee (2000)
The Green Paper on abortion was referred to the All-Party Committee in
September 1999. The committee issued its report more than one year later, in
November 2000. This report was expected to make up for the gaps left by the Green
Paper on key points. However, many people finally condemn it for being a mere
reworking of the Cabinet’s document. The problem regarding a clear definition of
abortion remains unanswered, as the report quotes the different submissions it
received on the subject, but does not settle the issue. Besides, the Oireachtas
Committee did not take into account the experience of women, more than the Cabinet
Committee did. The 7 pages dealing with the social and personal aspects of the issue,
contrast greatly with the 16 pages dedicated to religious and ethical considerations.
The members of the committee recognize that “by Article 44.1.1 of the Constitution
the State undertakes to respect and honour religion” (All-Party Oireachtas Committee
Report, p. 69). The separation between Church and State, and in this case between
Catholic moral teaching and law, is obviously not achieved on this matter. A great
importance is thus given to a general line of conduct advocated by religious bodies, as
it is accepted that they inform the moral perspective of many Irish citizens, while the
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moral independence and individual circumstances of the women who seek abortion is
not recognized by the committee.
The committee has relied, for its assessment of the current medical practices, on
written and oral submissions from individuals or organizations belonging to the
medical professions. Although both sides of the debates were represented, the vast
majority of communications supported a pro-life stance. The mobilization, both in the
quantity and the quality, of pro-life activists gave members of the committee
“democratic” and professional arguments to advocate restricted and conservative
options to solve the problem of abortion. The three options laid down by the
parliamentary committee actually reflect the positions of the three main political
parties: Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, and the Labour Party. The first approach, advocated
by Fine Gael, is “to concentrate on the plan to reduce the number of crisis
pregnancies and the rate of abortion, and to leave the legal position unchanged” (AllParty Oireachtas Committee Report, p. 116). The second option, backed by the
Labour Party, is to support this same plan, accompanied by legislation that would
reflect the Judgment of the Supreme Court in the X Case. Finally, the option
supported by Fianna Fail is to launch a plan on crisis pregnancies, and to amend the
Constitution in order to secure a ban on abortion, while at the same time securing
current medical practices.
Each of these three approaches may be considered to be conservative, from a
foreign point of view. In the Irish context, however, many people perceive the second
option as liberal. It is now up to a Cabinet sub-committee to decide whether it would
be too liberal for Irish society.
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4.2 Options Left to the Government
The ping-pong game goes on, and the ball is now back on the Government’s
side. The Cabinet sub-committee must indeed whittle the options to solve the abortion
issue down to one, a task that will not be easy, given that the views of its members
range from “liberal” to conservative.66 It is unlikely that the committee will opt for
the legal status quo, as proposed by Fine Gael members of the Oireachtas committee,
(although the status quo is indeed the approach which has dominated since the early
nineties). This would certainly be perceived by a large part of Irish public opinion as
an act of cowardice from a weak government, and would not be welcomed by pro-life
and pro-choice lobbies. The real choice for the Government thus appears to be
between a referendum banning abortion and legislation backing the X Case. Clearly,
this means that the Government has to choose between a pro-life or a pro-choice
stance, as each movement started lobbying for one or the other of these two options as
soon as 1992. Things have come full circle; the Government has now to make a
decision.
4.2.1 Legislation in Accordance with the X Case
This option is likely to gather some public support, about 36% of the
population, according to a poll carried out in March 2001.67 It remains, however, a
very limited option, as the distinction between a woman’s life and health would still
exist. A threat to her physical life would be recognized as legitimating an abortion,
but threats to her psychological, social or emotional life would not be accepted as
grounds for a termination. Yet, this restrictive solution would certainly benefit from
the support of pro-choice activists, as it would be a first step toward the liberalization
66
67
Irish Times, November 18th, 2000, “Abortion challenge for Cabinet grouping”.
Irish Times, April 19th, 2001, “Less than 20% back abortion ballot”.
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of abortion. What has characterized Ireland’s evolution toward a more liberal
legislation is indeed the progressive way in which modern values have been brought
into laws. The legalization of contraception first started in the late seventies and was
totally achieved more than ten years later. Similarly two referenda were needed to
legalize divorce. It can be expected that the abortion issue will follow the same path.
One can regret, however, the lack of references to rape or incest among the proposals
offered by the Oireachtas committee, as it seems that these cases gather large public
support. In 1999, 50% of Irish people thought that abortion was justified under these
circumstances (European Values Survey 1999).
The political advantage of limiting legislation to the case of suicide is certainly
that the Government can argue it respects the decision of the Supreme Court Judges.
To extend the law to cases of rape and incest would be to adopt freely a pro-choice
stance, which would be politically dangerous. This option would thus be the safest
way for the Cabinet to introduce some form of liberalization of abortion, and to
satisfy, to a certain extent, the pro-choice lobby. However, it has been suggested that
this approach would not change the reality of the Irish situation. As it did for the
provision of information in 1995, the Government would probably protect doctors’
moral objections to carrying out an abortion on the ground of suicide. Besides, most
doctors abide by the Medical Council ethical guidelines, which suggest that any
doctor performing such an abortion could be guilty of professional misconduct, and
be barred from the medical profession (All-Party Oireachtas Committee Report, p.
117). The question of whether the code of medical ethics should itself abide by State
law further complicates the issue, given the pro-life position of a large number of
practitioners. Are the advantages offered by a referendum more attractive to the
Government?
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4.2.2 A Referendum to Ban Abortion
According to commentators, this option seems to be what the Cabinet
subcommittee members will eventually agree on.68 Although the two Progressive
Democrats members are hostile to a referendum which would be, they think, bitter
and divisive, the three Fianna Fail members are expected to favour this solution.
Indeed, despite the reluctance of a Fianna Fail woman minister to support the option
of a referendum, it is nevertheless expected that she will accept the leadership line
standard that medical practice should be safeguarded in legislation, and that abortion
should be banned in Ireland. Besides, Bertie Ahern, the current Fianna Fail
Taoiseach, had intimated during his 1997 electoral campaign that he personally
supported a referendum without, however, being very definite on the issue. His recent
declarations that this solution may be unnecessarily divisive caused an uproar among
pro-life groups who responded using the political weapon and exercised pressure on
key members of the Parliament. Indeed, Ahern’s is not a majority government. He
needs, notably, the support of some Independent TDs to insure that he has a majority
in the Dail.69 Four of these Independents have clearly stated their preference for a
referendum on the abortion issue.70 Will the Taoiseach take the risk to endanger his
alliance with the Independent TDs, and choose to legislate in accordance with the X
Case instead of holding a referendum?
It is claimed by its advocates that the option of a constitutional ban on abortion,
as presented in the parliamentary report, would be consistent with the medical
evidence submitted to the All-Party Committee. Members of the committee backing
this solution implicitly recognize the pro-life distinction between direct and indirect
abortion. They indeed describe the latter as “essential medical treatment”, avoiding
Irish Times, November 18th, 2000, “Abortion challenge for Cabinet grouping”.
Dail: Irish Lower Parliamentary House.
70
Irish Times, November 9th, 2000, “No Promises to Independents on Abortion”.
68
69
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the word “abortion” (All-Party Oireachtas Committee Report, p. 120). Moreover, the
committee members stress the fact that the current ethical medical guidelines would
not be coherent with legislation that would provide for the suicide option. This
argument reveals the power that the Medical Council exercises over Irish legislation,
and raises interrogations concerning the status of the medical code of ethics in the
Irish legal system. A referendum would allow the government to avoid this sensitive
issue. Another advantage would be that a referendum could be justified as a
democratic gesture. The political rhetoric on the consultation of Irish citizens, and on
the outcome of the poll as the People’s will would insure that the Government would
be immune from the criticism of some of the electorate. However, if the People
rejected the proposed amendment, the issue would be sent back to square one. The
success of such an amendment is indeed far from self-evident. The content of the bill
would be basically the same as the 1992 so-called “amendment on the substantive
issue”, which was rejected by 65.4% of Irish voters. Yet, if this time the amendment
were to be accepted, it would close the door to abortion on the Irish soil. Ireland
would thus go on exporting this social issue to Great Britain, until the day when a
Supreme Court’s liberal interpretation of its meaning challenges its original target!
4.3 Delaying Factors
In the Foot and Mouth crisis context, the Government’s agenda has been
rescheduled, and the abortion issue is far from being its priority. Whatever the course
of action chosen, it appears clearly that it will not be implemented before several
months. The choice of an option itself has been delayed by the inability of political
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parties to reach a consensus, contrary to what was expected with the setting up of the
All-Party Oireachtas Committee. The Government has stated its will to separate the
abortion issue from any other political matters.71 The ratification of the Nice Treaty
by means of a referendum that should be held in June would thus come before a
solution to the abortion issue is proposed to Irish people. However, it is expected that
the Government will not go for a referendum on abortion in the run up to the 2002
general election.72
4.3.1 The Nice Treaty
In Ireland, the Nice Treaty, agreed lately by the members of the European
Union, has to be ratified by the Irish People in a national referendum. The date of this
referendum has been put off because of the agricultural crisis due to the Foot and
Mouth disease. This further postpones a potential abortion referendum. The
Government is indeed anxious to avoid the 1992 situation, when the Maastricht
Treaty was involved in the moral controversy, and became a means of pressure used
by pro-life and pro-choice activists. Both groups had called Irish people to vote “No”
to Maastricht, as they were not satisfied with the implications of Protocol 17
regarding the abortion issue. Although no such protocol was added to the Nice
negotiations, it has been suggested that a referendum on abortion could alienate the
Irish electorate, and have negative consequences on the outcome of the referendum
on the European Treaty. The commitment of Irish people to the European Union has
regularly decreased since Ireland’s first referendum on membership of the European
Economic Community, with a lower turnout and lower support for “Yes” votes in
each new poll. Although the Government has dismissed the possibility of a majority
71
72
Irish Times, April 5th, 2001, “FF Politicians complain over abortion referendum”.
Irish Times, November 18th, 2000, “Abortion challenge for Cabinet grouping”.
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of “No” votes against the Nice Treaty, it must nevertheless take no chances
organising a referendum on abortion before the European issue is settled. Ireland
would be in a very uncomfortable position if people rejected the Agreement. Being
the only EU member to submit the ratification of the Treaty to its People, Ireland
would be considered on the European scene as the only hindrance to the
implementing of the new measures, as the application of the Treaty can start only
once the fifteen members have ratified it.
4.3.2 The Electoral Game
The abortion issue has come back regularly on the political scene, particularly at
election time, since the early eighties, when anti-abortion groups used elections to
have the Eighth Amendment inserted in the Constitution. The 1997 general election
was no exception, all the more so as the legal situation of abortion has been
anomalous since the 1992 X Case. As political parties disagree on how the anomaly
should be resolved, contrary to a broad inter-party consensus on economic matters,
this controversial issue tends to be one of those which influence the voting decision of
“floating voters”. In 1997, Fianna Fail's position was delicate. Being the most
conservative party on the issue, it was open to pressure from the pro-life movement.
Besides, a significant proportion of its supporters has strong anti-abortion views, and
might have been inclined to give its vote to one of the new anti-abortion parties such
as the Christian Solidarity Party, if Fianna Fail had not pronounced itself in favour of
a conservative solution to the abortion issue. Bertie Ahern’s commitment to a
referendum banning abortion had, however, to be restricted, for Fianna Fail needed to
maintain the coalition option with the more liberal Progressive Democrats. Despite
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the future Taoiseach’s statement that a government led by him would act on abortion,
he sought to postpone further promises until after the election (Girvin, 1998, p. 90).
The situation today is similar in that a general election should take place in
2002. Ahern’s coalition government, composed of Fianna Fail and Progressive
Democrat ministers, is anxious to be returned to office, and may call for an early poll.
It can be expected that no controversial decision will be made until then. The abortion
question will probably be shelved for a while, as any option may antagonize a large
part of the electorate. The decision to legislate in favour of the X Case would
certainly alienate many traditional Fianna Fail voters, as well as pro-life groups which
may launch a resentful campaign against the party and redirect their support toward
new conservative parties and Independent TDs. The Irish proportional representation
electoral system increases indeed the pressure undergone by political parties. The
more likely choice for a referendum could also threaten the Government’s chances of
being re-elected. “An abortion referendum campaign would be rancorous and sour the
electorate unnecessarily before an election.”73 Although a poll carried out in
November 2000 reported that 62% of Irish people wanted a referendum on the issue,
regardless of their position on abortion,74 this does not suggest that the majority of
these people would support a conservative amendment. Another poll, carried out in
March 2001, revealed that only 17% of the people questioned favoured the third
option proposed in the Oireachtas Report, that is to say a referendum to ban abortion.
The success of a constitutional amendment is far from granted, and its rejection by
Irish people may be interpreted as the Government’s failure to solve the issue once
and for all. This would not be the best asset to gain electoral support.
Irish Times, November 18th, 2000, “Abortion challenge for Cabinet grouping”.
Irish Independent, November 18th, 2000, “Clear majority of voters favour a new referendum on
abortion issue”.
73
74
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The safest option is thus to delay (once more) any step which could be
politically harmful to the Government, until after the next general election. A
referendum is the approach that seems to be the less dangerous for the time being, as
it would not trigger uproar as damaging as pro-life groups’ protest would be if the
option of legislation in accordance with the X Case was chosen. Besides, the Cabinet
would save time, for the task of drafting a proper wording for the amendment would
then begin.
Conclusion
In Ireland abortion is not only a social issue. It has been, during the last two
decades highly politicized and was so, paradoxically, at the expense of politicians.
They have found themselves in a very uncomfortable position, for Irish society has
evolved and the solution to this problem is no longer as simple as proposing a
conservative amendment to the Constitution, which would be widely accepted by
Irish people, as was the case in 1983. If political parties have used this controversial
issue in their rhetoric during electoral campaigns to secure votes, they are less
anxious to actually solve it since it may alienate future electors. Initiatives have
nevertheless been taken since the mid-nineties onwards. The Trinity College study
has highlighted the complexities of a social problem that has been perceived for a
long time as a black and white issue. The Government stated that it would implement
some of its recommendations. This is a small achievement as it is the
acknowledgment that this problem does exist in Ireland, and that it is the
responsibility of the Irish State to offer solutions to reduce the number of crisis
pregnancies. However, there is no political consensus on the question of the actual
performing of abortion on the Irish soil. The Green Paper and the All-Party
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Oireachtas Committee have failed to provide a single approach to the issue. It is up to
the members of the Cabinet Committee on abortion to agree on the option that would
best fit the current situation in Ireland. But in the run-up for a general election it is
dangerous for the Government to choose between what appear to be pro-life or prochoice approaches. It is then unlikely that any concrete measures will be taken before
several months. The reluctance of Bertie Ahern’s government to deal with the issue is
common to all Irish political parties once they are elected. Political calculations have
led to the postponing of politically unrewarding actions, and are indeed partly
responsible for the present state of affairs of abortion in Ireland.
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CONCLUSION
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Ireland is a Catholic country with a rural tradition, like France or Italy. It is an
English-speaking nation like its British neighbour. Its living standards, today, are
similar to the European Union average. However, Irish society distinguishes itself
from other European countries in that these common features are also tinted by
Ireland’s distinctiveness. Ireland is a nation that gained its independence from Great
Britain in 1922 only. It is a country where the Catholic Church has held an extremely
powerful position in political and social institutions, influencing every area of Irish
people’s lives. It is a country where agriculture still is a major part of the economy,
and whose social traditions have survived well into the modern society. It is also a
country whose current wealth has been acquired in a very short period of time, mainly
during the last decade. All these characteristics have had an impact on Irish culture
and identity.
Today, some traditional traits of Irish identity are vehemently defended by a
new kind of nationalists who claim Ireland’s “moral superiority”. The field of sexual
morality is a particularly rough battleground, where abortion appears to many of them
as the “last line of defence against the encroaching moral decadence of Europe” (Hug,
p. 147). The pro-life movement has regularly appealed to Irish people’s deeply
embedded religious values that make of abortion an “abominable sin”. A large part of
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the population has been receptive to this appeal and formed the moral majority that
approved of a constitutional ban on abortion, in 1983. This majority, however, seems
to lose ground in front of an increasingly significant liberal minority. Abortion is now
perceived more as a social issue faced by common individuals, than as an
unforgivable crime committed by cold-blooded murderers. Manichean views of this
problem are no longer attractive to a majority of Irish people, who increasingly adopt
a moderate stance. The homogeneity of Irish moral values no longer exists. In 1983,
66.9% of those who voted in the national referendum stood firmly against the
possibility of abortions being carried out on the Irish soil. In 2001, 62% of Irish
people agree that “some Irish women should be allowed to have abortions here [in
Ireland]”, and 47% think it should be allowed in case of incest or rape. 75 This move
away from the moral consensus has not occurred overnight. Many changes in Irish
society have taken place which account for this shift in public opinion. Ireland lost
thousands of its citizens through emigration. As a consequence she felt threatened as
a nation, and clung to what characterized her identity, such as her conservative moral
code. The rapid economic development experienced by the re-baptised “Celtic Tiger”
has reversed the tide of migration flows and has initiated deep structural changes in
Irish society. At the same time it has progressively transformed certain aspects of
Irish culture. More money means a higher purchasing power: access to more
pleasures, more comfort, more goods, and more choice. The consumer society is
concerned with enjoying life, not with merely suffering it and struggling to survive.
Once bodily survival is secured, people turn to another kind of concern related to a
less concrete aspect of humanity: emotional and psychological security. Until
modernization took place, the spiritual side of the human kind was often satisfied by
75
Irish Times, April 19th, 2001, “Less than 20% back abortion poll”.
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religion, and, in Ireland, by the notion that Catholic souls, if they suffered in this
World, would enjoy eternal rest in the other One. But the motto of today’s
materialistic societies is “enjoy yourselves now”. The importance of soul’s after-life
has yielded ground to a quest for psychological well-being in this World. Irish people
increasingly want to choose what will satisfy both their body and their mind. This
development of popular attitudes is not in itself peculiar to Ireland. Ireland’s
particularity resides in the fact that this changes occurred much later than in other
European countries. The eagerness for choice and its impact on the different aspects
of one’s life has been sustained by the Irish media and interest groups that promote
various ideologies, such as women’s right to self-determination regarding their
reproductive capacities. Abortion has become for many Irish women something that
they should be free to choose, not only to protect their physical life, but also to secure
their psychological or emotional well-being. People have thus become increasingly
aware of the limits imposed upon them by influential bodies such as the Catholic
Church. These strict rules, often linked to sexual morality, appear more and more as
outdated and are ignored by a growing number of Irish citizens. The political powers
of the country have managed, not without difficulty, to settle most conflicts opposing
tradition and modernity. However, the abortion issue seems to be more difficult to
solve. It is true that it is a complex social and moral problem. But this may not be the
only reason why no solution has been proposed by Irish governments, since abortion
became the focus of a national controversy in the early nineties. Political calculations
have delayed the passing of effective legislation in this field. If any form of abortion
based on psychological grounds is illegal today, in Ireland, Irish politicians must be
blamed, (or praised, according to one’s opinion), as much as Catholic moral teaching
and Irish people’s conservatism.
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However, the balance between “conservative Irish” and “liberal Irish” in the
abortion debate no longer favours in absolute terms the old “moral majority”. It seems
that both sides are almost on equal grounds. One must realize, however, that being
“liberal” in the Irish context is different from British or French moral liberalism. A
small minority only of Irish people support the legalisation of abortion for social
reasons. There is, then, little chance that a liberal law, (as understood by other
European countries), will be introduced shortly in Ireland. But Irish society is
undergoing continuous transformation, and one can expect that, in the long run, Irish
women will be free to choose and have an abortion in Ireland.
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o Irish Times, March 21st, 2001, “Church sources puzzled by claims about nuns”.
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Websites
o www.ifpa.ie
o www.independent.ie
o www.ireland.com
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o www.justthefacts.ie
o www.life.ie
o www.youthdefence.ie
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APPENDICES
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Appendix One
The Irish Constitution and Fundamental Rights
Article 40.3.3
3.
3° The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and,
with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother,
guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by
its laws to defend and vindicate that right.
This subsection shall not limit freedom to travel between the
State and another state.
This subsection shall not limit freedom to obtain or make
available, in the State, subject to such conditions as may be laid
down by law, information relating to services lawfully available in
another state.
Article 41.1 and 41.2
1. 1° The State recognises the Family as the natural primary and
fundamental unit group of Society, and as a moral institution
possessing inalienable and imprescriptible rights, antecedent
and superior to all positive law.
2° The State, therefore, guarantees to protect the Family in its
constitution and authority, as the necessary basis of social order
and as indispensable to the welfare of the Nation and the State.
2. 1° In particular, the State recognises that by her life within the
home, woman gives to the State a support without which the
common good cannot be achieved.
2° The State shall, therefore, endeavour to ensure that mothers
shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour
to the neglect of their duties in the home.
Source: Bunreacht na hEireann, Constitution of Ireland, (1937); www.irlgov.ie
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Appendix Two
Irish People and Sexual Morality
Opposition to divorce, abortion and homosexuality by age group
and age cohort 1981, 1990 and 1999
Divorce
Never justified* -- per cent
80
)
)
#
$
60
)
40
)
20
#
$
0
18-24
)
)
)1981
#
$
#1990
$1999
#
#
$
25-34
#
$
$
Approximate age cohorts
35-44
45-54
55-64
65+
Abortion
100
Never justified* -- per cent
80
)
)
40
#
)
#
$
)
$
#
)
60
)
#
$
#
$
#
)1981
#1990
$
$1999
$
Approximate age cohorts
20
0
18-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65+
Homosexuality
100
Never justified* -- per cent
80
)
#
60
40 )
)
#
)
#
#
$
)
#
)1981
$
#1990
$1999
#
20 $
)
$
$
$
Approximate age cohorts
0
18-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65+
* Scores 1 and 2 on 10-point scale, where 1=never justified, 10=always justified
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Attitudes to abortion by religious grouping, 1999.
Catholic
Protestant
Secularist
% considering item never justified*
Abortion
66
52
39
* Responses 1 or 2 on ten-point response scale where 1=never justified, 10=always
justified.
Conditional attitudes to abortion, 1981, 1990 and 1999.
1981
Condition
1990
1999
% approving of
abortion*
Where the woman is not
married
6
8
14
Where a married couple do not
want more children
5
8
12
Where a married couple cannot
afford more children
–
–
15
Where the mother’s health is at
risk by the pregnancy
48
65
–
Where it is likely that the child
would be born physically
handicapped**
26
32
33
Where the pregnancy is the
result of rape
–
–
50
* Response categories in 1981 and 1990 were ‘approve’ and ‘disapprove’; in 1999 a ‘don’t know’
response category was added, thus reducing the likelihood that respondents would select either the
‘approve’ or ‘disapprove’ responses (see text).
** In 1999: ‘Where there is a strong chance of a serious defect in the baby’.
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Conditional attitudes to abortion by religious grouping, 1999.
Catholic
Condition
Protestant
Secularist
% approving of abortion
Where the woman is
not married
12
21
43
Where a married
couple do not want
more children
11
15
38
Where a married
couple cannot afford
more children
13
22
40
Where there is a
strong chance of a
serious defect in the
baby
31
63
57
Where the pregnancy
is the result of rape
47
73
71
Opposition to divorce, abortion and homosexuality by broad age
group and educational level, 1999
Age
Divorce
Incomplete
Third level
Second level
% considering item never justified*
Under 45
28
8
45 and over
51
37
Abortion
Under 45
45 and over
60
82
36
74
Homosexuality
Under 45
45 and over
51
72
11
36
* Responses 1 or 2 on ten-point response scale where 1=never justified, 10=always justified.
Source: Supplied by Tony Fahey (ESRI). Unpublished breakdowns of the 1999
European Values Survey.
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- 113 -