Abortion and Reproduction in Twentieth-Century Ireland

The case of Savita Halappanavar, who died in a Galway hospital in October 2012 after medical staff reportedly refused to give her an abortion, is only the most recent controversy surrounding reproduction that has exposed deep ruptures in modern Irish society. Indeed, some of Ireland’s most divisive scandals in the past century, from the famous murder trial of midwife and abortionist Mamie Cadden in the 1950s to the symphysiotomy controversy of recent years, have centered on women’s bodies, reproduction, and motherhood.

This paper focuses on illegal abortion in Ireland in the twentieth century. It argues that the methods employed by women who sought abortions reveal their agency in attempting to control their fertility. Although Irish abortion history is often viewed as one with many turning points and transformations—moving from abortifacient use to backstreet surgical methods to travel to Britain—my research demonstrates that, for the women involved, the main narrative of abortion is one of continuity: a lack of access to healthcare at the hands of a unique Church-state coalition persisted throughout the century, but so too did women’s illegal abortion attempts.

The discussions and debates that we are having today about women, the body, and reproduction could be informed by more nuanced historical analyses of abortion in Ireland. The secret journeys of women who travel abroad for a legal termination every day or who purchase drugs on the internet are legacies of the past in a country that has proven reluctant, until very recently, to recognize the reality of abortion.