The Irish Abortion Journey 1920 2018

Download or read book The Irish Abortion Journey, 1920–2018 written by Lindsey Earner-Byrne and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-01-30 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reframes the Irish abortion narrative within the history of women’s reproductive health and explores the similarities and differences that shaped the history of abortion within the two states on the island of Ireland. Since the legalisation of abortion in Britain in 1967, an estimated 200,000 women have travelled from Ireland to England for an abortion. However, this abortion trail is at least a century old and began with women migrating to Britain to flee moral intolerance in Ireland towards unmarried mothers and their offspring. This study highlights how attitudes to unmarried motherhood reflected a broader cultural acceptance that morality should trump concerns regarding maternal health. This rationale bled into social and political responses to birth control and abortion and was underpinned by an acknowledgement that in prioritising morality some women would die.