Originally the text of a talk given by Andrew Blackmore for the public meeting called by Trinity Right to Information Group (TRIAG) to launch a Dublin campaign. This was the start of Dublin Abortion Information Campaign which organised the major demonstrations at the time of the X-case and so paved the way for defeating the ban on abortion information.
As early as the eighth century in the time of Saints and Scholars women were allowed to have abortions freely - as long as they had their husbands permission. Even then any rights that women had were limited to someone else's consent. Contraception was also used - made out of the stomach lining of goats and sheep.
Nowadays modern technology has made it possible for good contraception and abortion facilities. The only thing holding back the use of these facilities are the state, backed up by the church. There is no physical or logistical reason why there could not be free contraception and abortion to all who want it.
The present position started with the Offences against the Person Act in 1861. This made any person performing, attempting, and/or assisting in an abortion liable to penal servitude for life.
This of course did not prevent abortions from taking place. The fact that between 1926 and 1974 there were 58 prosecutions shows that there was a back street abortion industry.
Also the fact that when travel to England was restricted between 1942 and '46 there was a big leap in convictions points that there were women travelling to England for abortions at other times. Sentences were harsh; in 1956 Nurse Cadell was sentenced to death for assisting in an abortion. This was later commuted to life.
The abortion laws were liberalised in Britain in 1967. Because of this back street abortion in Ireland declined because women could now go to England.
To a small extent the right wing control of sex was loosened in the 70's. Ireland was experiencing economic growth and the small but vocal women's movement was able to make gains.
- The McGee case in 1973 made it possible for married couples to use contraception.
- The Well Woman Centre started an abortion referral service in 1979 followed by the Irish Pregnancy Counselling Centre in 1980 founded by the Women's Right to Choose Group.
- And in 1979 the Health and Family Planning Act was passed which made contraception slightly legal.
Worried by the increased independence that women were achieving the extreme right began to organise. They saw the next step to women's liberation as being the liberalisation of abortion laws. So in January 1981 the Pro Life Amendment Campaign was founded.
By April they had begun to campaign for an amendment to the constitution keeping abortion illegal and making sure it would stay so until a new referendum. At the same time Ireland had gone into an economic recession. The cuts in Health and Social Services started and the State started to push women back into the home to replace the services that they were cutting. Working women were used as a scapegoat by the state for the rise in unemployment.
In this atmosphere, PLAC soon found support for its ideas and the amendment was voted through in September 1983 by 66% of those who voted.
Since then the women's movement has been on the defensive.
- The Women's Right to Choose Group collapsed soon after the referendum.
- The divorce referendum was lost.
- The Hamilton judgement in 1987 stopped the Well Woman Centre and The Open Line Counselling from giving a non directive counselling service. The effect of the Hamilton judgement was to make it harder to get information about abortion. The number of Irish women having an abortion after 16 weeks doubled because of this.
- Next year the Finlay judgement made it illegal to give any information relating to the procurement of abortion. This was immediately to be used by SPUC against the Student Unions.
The abortion amendment in no way slowed down the numbers having abortions.
In fact the figures went from 4.2% in 1980 to 7.1% in 1988. Today there are estimated to be about 10,000 Irish women having abortions per year.
The recent defensive campaign to keep on giving out the information began in September 1988 when SPUC started placing injunctions on the Student Unions. Firstly UCD and then the year after TCD. Both colleges had been passing pro information policy at their unions meetings for years before.
In the College year 1989/90 with the background of the much publicised court cases; SPUC started putting referendums in colleges against abortion information. They believed that they would win and so isolate the student leaders.
In fact the opposite happened. Almost all the RTC's passed pro information policy, some for the first time. Also TCD got a 68% majority and DCU won. The only notable victory for SPUC was at UCD.
For SPUC this was a disaster. More students than ever before, over 100,000 were now for abortion information. Secondly, for us it showed that SPUC can be beaten even in something as controversial as abortion information - as long as you are organised against them.
In many cases the opposition to SPUC was extremely weak. Many people were arguing that Information will stop abortions:- not a very realistic assumption.
Meanwhile SPUC was having problems with the court cases. Promises of support had been made by the Dublin Trades Council in the event of students going to jail. And the pickets of the courts were well attended by students - many of whom had never been on a protest before.
Faced with the possibility of trade union support and mass student mobilisation if the students went to jail, SPUC backed down. They stated that they no longer wanted individuals to be jailed for breaking the injunction. They also backed down from asking for the sequestration of union funds, though they made it clear this was only temporary.
It could be argued that the government also backed down. The judgement was a fine piece of legalistic nonsense about the evidence not being acceptable. The case was referred to the Europe.
It was around this time that there were two divergent paths for the campaign to take. The minority view was to continue and build the campaign on the existing foundations, with Student Unions handing out the information and putting it in their guides as before. It was argued that it was wrong to have faith in the European Law Courts.
The other way was chosen. Faith in the law courts was argued for by the majority of the USI officers and they won the day. The campaign was wound down in the fear that it would annoy the judges. People who argued for the continuation of the campaign were told they were only in it for the aggro.
Two years later and the courts have ruled against us. Faith in the European parliament has been proved to be naive. Even it we had won the case, as David Norris did , there is no reason to believe that things would have got better in Ireland. The times when students were getting places was when there was action on the ground - students meeting and discussing, arguing their pro information ideas and then going out and demanding it in protests.
There has been no slowdown in the attacks on women's rights. As the recession goes further the drive to push women into married relationships and into the home increases. A wife financially dependant and legally bound to her husband; working full time in the home, looking after children, the old, and the handicapped is, in the eyes of the state a big saving. In the States view, why pay for creches, hospital care, good education when a housewife will do all the work for free.
In fact with the absence of any organised opposition cutbacks are now the norm.
- The continuous cuts in health, social welfare and housing are just a start . More specific examples are;
- Unmarried mothers must now name the father before they qualify for the dole; a rule that further stigmatises unmarried mothers and certainly stops some from claiming.
- A new law signed by Mary Robinson that means unmarried couples on the dole only receive £87 rather than £100. The women in this arrangement are classed as dependent on the man.
- Only a few weeks ago Miriam Stoppards book was taken off library shelves.
- Last Summer the Rape Crisis Centre has been reduced to asking for only half their funds from the government, rather than complete support. Even this provoked a reaction from a Green Councillor who said that they should receive nothing from the State. Meanwhile £7,000,000 are being spent on golf courses by the government.
Now the good side.
Small gains have been made in the last few weeks [1991] for the right to information.
- last week DCU voted by 88% in favour of abortion information.
- The National Youth Council has just recently passed a motion in favour of information on all the options; this was supported by the Catholic Girl Guides and Catholic Boy Scouts, of all people.
- The Dublin Trades Council has also passed a motion calling for abortion facilities to be provided in Ireland.
The first Trinity Right to Information Group (TRIAG) meeting this September attracted around thirty people. It was discussed in that meeting and later agreed that we should try to help get something started in Dublin and break out of the Student arena.
This is why we have called this meeting. To advertise we did regular leaflet distributions and put up posters; all which were ripped down within 24 hours. All our literature has the abortion information phone number on it.
We believe that a Dublin campaign should adopt the tactic of giving out the information and urging unions, and any groups to put up the information. The ruling against Abortion Information should be fought as the condoms were fought. Open defiance of the law until the law is made unworkable and held in ridicule.
TRIAG has no intention of controlling or leading a DRIAG. This meeting has been set up with the aim of starting a DRIAG and the rest comes from the people here. However as equals we argue that the campaign should be democratically controlled by all in it. There is always a danger in small campaigns such as these that it will fall into the hands of one political party who will use it to gain recruits and nothing more.
This is not paranoia; this happened to the last Dublin Right to Info Group and because of this it did not last more than two meetings. That is not to say that we are against people from political parties from joining, everyone who agrees with the groups aims should be allowed to join.
I would now like to propose two things on behalf of TRIAG.
- Leafleting next SAT - Next meeting second week in January in Morans
To finish off. We do not say that this is a campaign that can definitely be won in the short term or that can easily be won. We do think that given recent victories in our favour that there is more support for us than the media will admit. Our task is to turn this passive support into active support. With large enough numbers out on the streets demanding the right to abortion information the government will be forced to back down.
TRIAG firmly believes that the fight back should start here in this room with the start of a new campaign. The rest is up to you.
I'd love to hear your comments on my pages, email me at aileenoc@acadamh.ucd.ie
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