Intersectionality, Repeal, and Reproductive Rights in Ireland

Abstract

In this chapter, I reflect on the ways in which reproductive activism might be said to have failed in its intersectionality during the formal referendum campaign to repeal the 8th Amendment in Ireland and, in particular, on the ways in which the formal processes of constitutional law reform that had to be negotiated in order to achieve meaningful reform and liberalisation of abortion law shaped these failures. My intention in this chapter is not to contribute in any substantial way to our evolving understanding of intersectionality and intersectional practice, but rather to reflect on the ways in which a self-avowedly intersectional and intergenerational activism for abortion law reform in Ireland may have fallen short of that avowel within the formal process of constitutional law reform as it operates in Ireland. The chapter proceeds in three parts. First, I reflect on the referendum campaign itself and particularly on some of the tactical maneuvers of the campaign relevant to the question of intersectionality. Second, I illustrate some of the ways in which the new law and its operation fail adequately to deliver reproductive justice to all with a particular focus on trans and non-binary persons, and migrants living in Ireland. Third, I will reflect on the difficulties of intersectionality in constitutional referendum campaigns.

Keywords: Abortion, Intersectionality, Repeal, Constitutional Law, Ireland, Irish Law, Reproductive Rights, Reproductive Justice

JEL Classification: K00, K19, K30