Ireland – Abortion Pill Activism Offers a Global Model for Change

Alumna Brenna McCaffrey traces how Irish feminists used abortion pills to transform culture and health care in “Pills and Protest.”

July 14, 2025
In countries where abortion is illegal or restricted, activists are finding new ways to fight back — sometimes with just a few pills.

A growing form of protest uses medical tools not only for care, but also as symbols of resistance. In Pills and Protest: Abortion Access in Ireland, Brenna McCaffrey (Ph.D. ’22, Anthropology) examines how this strategy helped reshape the fight for reproductive rights in Ireland and the implications for other activists around the world.

Continued: https://www.gc.cuny.edu/news/abortion-pill-activism-offers-global-model-change

14.07.2025

Around 240 Irish women still travel to the UK every year for abortions

April 7, 2025

At least 5,860 European women crossed borders for abortions in 2023. This includes Ireland, even after the repeal of the Eighth Amendment in 2018.

The Journal Investigates latest report showed that women still come across bureaucratic hurdles that force them to travel. Its editor, Maria Delaney, said Irish women continue to travel to Britain for abortions.

Continued: https://www.newstalk.com/news/around-240-irish-women-still-travel-to-the-uk-every-year-for-abortions-2152245

07.04.2025

News

Eighth Amendment

Maria Delaney

travelling for abortion

travelling to England

Europe

Ireland

Ireland – Aontú leader says party seeking a ‘change to the law on abortion’

Party leader Peadar Tóibín said Aontú are seeking to ban abortions within 12 weeks where a child may have a disability.

16 Nov 2024

AONTÚ ARE SEEKING a “change in relation to the law on abortion” so that mothers will be prohibited from terminating a pregnancy if a child may have a disability.

Under the Termination of Pregnancy Act 2019 – which gave women in Ireland access to abortion services for the first time – services are available to everyone up to 12 weeks into their pregnancy, with a three-day waiting period.

The law states that terminations can only be carried out after 12 weeks in cases where there is a risk to the life or health of the mother or in cases where doctors determine the foetus will die before birth or 28 days after birth.

Continued: https://www.thejournal.ie/aontu-abortion-law-election-2024-6544427-Nov2024/

16.11.2024

News

disability and abortion

Hazel de Nortúin

MyOptions helpline

Peadar Tóibín

Termination of Pregnancy Act 2019

Trump’s abortion flip-flops: Lessons from Ireland on why reasons-based access to abortion doesn’t work

September 16, 2024
Seána Glennon, Postdoctoral Fellow, Constitutional Law, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

Donald Trump has flip-flopped on the issue of abortion for decades, from declaring himself “very pro-choice” in the 1990s and “pro-life” in 2011 to hinting this year that he’d support a national abortion ban.

Abortion is a topic of huge importance in American politics this year: it could decide the United States presidential election, and the way states regulate abortion access will have life-or-death consequences for women.

…American legislators should look to Ireland to understand the real-life consequences of a ban on abortion, the chilling effect on health-care professionals of an exception only in cases of a threat to the life of the pregnant woman, and the significant problems with attempting to legislate abortion access only for certain reasons, like rape and incest.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/trumps-abortion-flip-flops-lessons-from-ireland-on-why-reasons-based-access-to-abortion-doesnt-work-238934

16.09.2024

Ireland – Abortion numbers are in line with predictions

Letter of the Day
Mon Jul 15 2024
by Dr Peter Boylan, Former chair, Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists,

Sir, – Breda O’Brien’s claim that there has been an “astonishing rise” in abortion services accessed by women in the Republic of Ireland since the repeal of the Eighth Amendment is misplaced (“In Ireland, you can tell people abortion figures won’t rise and still be unaccountable when they double”, Opinion & Analysis, July 13th).

The statistic of 3,019 women from the Republic accessing abortion in England and Wales in 2017 refers only to the number of women who gave addresses in the Republic. Many others provided the UK addresses of family, friends or supporters. This practice was well-identified over many years when abortion was illegal here. Similarly, the number of women who used abortion pills prior to repeal cannot be accurately determined.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/2024/07/15/abortion-numbers-are-in-line-with-predictions/

15.07.2024

Ireland’s free contraception scheme to include women aged 32-35

Robert Besser
5th July 2024

DUBLIN, Ireland: Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has announced the expansion of the free contraception scheme to include women aged 32 to 35. With this extension, the initiative now covers all women aged 17 to 35.

Introduced in September 2022, the scheme aims to reduce the financial burden of contraception by covering costs associated with general practitioners, family planning, student health, and primary care centers.

Continued: https://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/274444209/ireland-free-contraception-scheme-to-include-women-aged-32-35#google_vignette

05.07.2024

News

contraception coverage

Ireland – Lack of action on State’s abortion law shows ‘political cowardice’

MON, 15 JAN, 2024
CIARA PHELAN, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns said it will be “cruel” and “political cowardice” if the Government decides against removing a three-day waiting period to access abortion services.

Ms Cairns has called on Government to deal with the recommendations from the final review into the State’s abortion law, authored by barrister Marie O’Shea, which recommends significant changes.

Continued: https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/politics/arid-41309473.html

15.01.2024

three-day waiting period

Free contraception provision expanded in Ireland

BBC
Mon, January 1, 2024

A scheme offering free contraception in the Republic of Ireland has been expanded. Since its launch in 2022, the programme has offered free contraception to women, girls and people who identify as transgender or non-binary.

Initially open to those aged 17 to 25, the scheme's age limit was increased last year to 30. From Monday, it is also open to women aged 31.

Continued: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/free-contraception-provision-expanded-ireland-084149291.html

01.01.2024

Ireland allowed mental health abortion exception 30 years ago

Ireland has protected the right to seek an abortion because of the risk of suicide since 1992

By Sandhya Raman

Posted December 7, 2023

While 18 U.S. states have essentially banned abortion for pregnant people facing a mental health crisis, Ireland, which had one of the strictest abortion laws in the European Union until 2018, has taken a different approach.

Ireland has protected the right to seek an abortion because of the risk of suicide since 1992. While more than two-thirds of U.S. states have enacted laws that include mental health among the medical reasons a woman can have an abortion, Ireland protected exceptions for risk of suicide long before the country voted in 2018 to repeal its amendment banning abortion.

Continued: https://rollcall.com/2023/12/07/07irelandsidebar/

07.12.2023

mental health and abortion

Sandhya Raman

suicide risk Irish law

Abortion Pills Go Global

Regardless of the law, women can now access their own safe and effective abortion procedures in the form of these pills.

November 10, 2023

After Ohio’s recent vote to enshrine the right to have an abortion into the state’s constitution, host Robert Scheer dives deeper into one of the underappreciated and underreported aspects of the fight for abortion rights on this episode of the Scheer Intelligence podcast.

Sydney Calkin, a senior lecturer in the School of Geography at Queen Mary University of London, discusses her newest book, “Abortion Pills Go Global: Reproductive Freedom Across Borders,” and breaks down the myths and misconceptions about one of the biggest tools for bringing women’s reproductive rights to the forefront.

Continued: https://scheerpost.com/2023/11/10/abortion-pills-go-global/