Contraception Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

was illegal in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

from 1935 until 1980, when it was legalised with strong restrictions, later loosened. The ban reflected Catholic teachings on sexual morality.

History

Papal encyclicals

The

encyclical An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally fr ...

(1930) followed the industrial production and widespread use of

condom A condom is a sheath-shaped Barrier contraception, barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a Sexually transmitted disease, sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both male and female con ...

s that usually prevent

fertilisation Fertilisation or fertilization (see spelling differences), also known as generative fertilisation, syngamy and impregnation, is the fusion of gametes to give rise to a new individual organism or offspring and initiate its development. Pro ...

. It specified: Following the marketing of "the pill" in the 1960s, a

Pontifical Commission on Birth Control The Pontifical Commission on Birth Control was a committee within the Roman Curia tasked with analyzing the modern impact of birth control on the Roman Catholic Church. The disagreements within the commission ultimately led to the publication of t ...

was set up. It has often been cited that there was a majority in favour of contraception, and that is implied in the wording of the papal encyclical. The encyclical (1968) decreed that artificial contraception is not morally permissible.

Ban on sales

Owning and using contraceptive devices and pills was not prohibited. However, from 1935, it was illegal to sell or to import them. During this time a

loophole A loophole is an ambiguity or inadequacy in a system, such as a law or security, which can be used to circumvent or otherwise avoid the purpose, implied or explicitly stated, of the system. Originally, the word meant an arrowslit, a narrow ver ...

was used, where a device such as a

could not be " offered for sale", but a citizen could be " invited to treat" to buy it. Also people made

donation A donation is a gift for charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including money, alms, services, or goods such as clothing, toys, food, or vehicles. A donation may satisfy medical needs such as ...

s to family planning associations to obtain contraception as a "

gift A gift or a present is an item given to someone without the expectation of payment or anything in return. An item is not a gift if that item is already owned by the one to whom it is given. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation ...

". The reality for almost all of the population was that contraception was unobtainable. Few outlets wanted to stock a product that could bring the attention of the police or public opprobrium. In early 1971 Senator

Mary Robinson Mary Therese Winifred Robinson ( ga, Máire Mhic Róibín; ; born 21 May 1944) is an Irish politician who was the 7th president of Ireland, serving from December 1990 to September 1997, the first woman to hold this office. Prior to her electi ...

(who would later become president) attempted to introduce the first bill proposing to liberalise the law on contraception into the Seanad, but was not allowed a reading, so it could not be discussed. On 31 March a number of supporters managed to get into the grounds of Leinster House and then broke into the building to register their protests. On 22 May 1971 a group of

Irish feminists Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

including

Mary Kenny Mary Kenny (born 4 April 1944) is an Irish journalist, broadcaster and playwright. A founding member of the Irish Women's Liberation Movement, she was one of the country's first and foremost feminists, often contributes columns to the ''Irish In ...

travelled to Belfast by rail and made their return to

Dublin Connolly Connolly station ( ga, Stáisiún Uí Chonghaile) or Dublin Connolly is one of the busiest railway stations in Dublin and Ireland, and is a focal point in the Irish route network. On the North side of the River Liffey, it provides InterC ...

, laden with contraceptive devices, into a statement on the illogicality of the law. This provoked criticism from the

Roman Catholic Church in Ireland , native_name_lang = ga , image = Armagh, St Patricks RC cathedral.jpg , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh. , abbreviation = , type ...

; Thomas Ryan, Bishop of Clonfert, said that "... never before, and certainly not since penal times was the Catholic heritage of Ireland subjected to so many insidious onslaughts on the pretext of conscience, civil rights and women's liberation".

Reform

In 1973, the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

determined in '' McGee v. The Attorney General'' that there was a

constitutional right A constitutional right can be a prerogative or a duty, a power or a restraint of power, recognized and established by a sovereign state or union of states. Constitutional rights may be expressly stipulated in a national constitution, or they may ...

to marital privacy which also allowed for the use of contraceptives. A number of bills were proposed, but none became law. Indeed,

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the of ...

at the time,

Jack Lynch John Mary Lynch (15 August 1917 – 20 October 1999) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1966 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1966 to 1979, Leader of the Opposition from 1973 to 1977, Ministe ...

, admitted at one point that the issue had been put "on the long finger". The Health (Family Planning) Act 1979 limited the provision of contraceptives to ", family planning or for adequate medical reasons". Under this scheme, contraceptives could only be dispensed by a

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

on the presentation of a valid

medical prescription A prescription, often abbreviated or Rx, is a formal communication from a physician or other registered health-care professional to a pharmacist, authorizing them to dispense a specific prescription drug for a specific patient. Historicall ...

from a practising doctor. The legislation did not require that the recipient of the prescription be married; however "bona fide family planning" would have made non-marital use unlikely to be authorised. The legislation had been introduced by

Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach on three occasions – 1979 to 1981, March to December 1982 and 1987 to 1992. He was also Minister for the Gaeltacht from ...

. The reason for the compromise was the strong position of conservative elements in Irish society at the time, particularly the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

which made it difficult for the government to provide for a more liberal law. Contraception was also not seen by politicians as a vote-getter at the time. Haughey described the 1979 Act as "

an Irish solution to an Irish problem In Irish political discourse, "an Irish solution to an Irish problem" is any official response to a controversial issue which is timid, half-baked, or expedient, which is an unsatisfactory compromise, or sidesteps the fundamental issue. Earli ...

Eileen Desmond Eileen Christine Desmond (; 29 December 1932 – 6 January 2005) was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Health and Minister for Social Welfare from 1981 to 1982. She served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1965 to 1969, 1 ...

, TD, was severely critical of the legislation; describing it as hypocritical, she argued that women should make their own decisions on such matters, and contended that the Irish people and "those who have conditioned our consciences' showed greater moral concern on sexual matters than in addressing poverty". On 1 November 1980 the Act came into operation by order of the minister. The Health (Family Planning) (Amendment) Act 1985 liberalised the law by allowing

s and

spermicide Spermicide is a contraceptive substance that destroys sperm, inserted vaginally prior to intercourse to prevent pregnancy. As a contraceptive, spermicide may be used alone. However, the pregnancy rate experienced by couples using only spermicid ...

s to be sold to people over 18 without having to present a prescription; however sale was limited to categories of places named in the Act. The Health (Family Planning) (Amendment) Act 1992 repealed Section 4 of the 1979 Act, as amended in 1985, and continued the provision of contraceptives without prescription, allowing sale to individuals over the age of 17. As of 2010, the 1992 Act and the Health (Family Planning) (Amendment) Act 1993 are the main Irish legislation on contraceptive and family planning services. As well as allowing sales, Ireland's censorship laws had to be reformed to allow contraceptives to be advertised or even mentioned. As late as 1976, the

Censorship of Publications Board In Ireland, the state retains laws that allow for censorship, including specific laws covering films, advertisements, newspapers and magazines, as well as terrorism and pornography. In the early years of the state, censorship was widely enfo ...

had banned the

Irish Family Planning Association The Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) is an Irish charity working to enable people to make informed choices about sexuality and reproduction. The organisation promotes the right of all people to sexual and reproductive health information as ...

's booklet "Family Planning". The Health (Family Planning) Act 1979 deleted references to "the unnatural prevention of conception" in the 1929 and 1949 censorship Acts, thus allowing publications with information about contraception to be distributed in Ireland. The Regulation of Information (Services Outside the State for the Termination of Pregnancies) Act 1995 modified the 1929, 1946 and 1967 Acts to allow publications with information about "services provided outside the State for the termination of pregnancies". The 8th Amendment to the Irish constitution which prevented abortion was repealed in 2018. A small percentage of the Irish population still opposes the use of artificial contraception within marriage, in line with ''Humanae Vitae'', including sports personality Mickey Harte. The conservative '' Brandsma Review'' magazine has editorialised against the use of artificial contraception.

References

{{Reproductive health History of the Republic of Ireland Catholic Church in the Republic of Ireland Politics of the Republic of Ireland Birth control in Ireland Women's rights in Ireland

History

Papal encyclicals

Ban on sales

Reform

See also

References