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In May 2018, the Irish public voted to repeal the 8th amendment of the constitution – an article which protected the right to life of the ‘unborn’ - thereby paving the way towards the legal provision of abortion for the first time in the country’s history. Adding to critical feminist studies of reproduction, and inspired theoretically by phenomenology and affect theory, this research offers an alternative perspective on (Irish) abortion politics, studying the intimate, embodied experiences of women and people living under Ireland’s constitutional abortion ban. Employing a qualitative research methodology based on in-depth interviews with abortion activists, this research attempts to locate activists in their embodied and affective experiences, to explore how they live, negotiate and mobilise against the (effects of the) country’s abortion ban in their everyday lives. The thesis is divided into eight chapters. Chapter One contextualises the movement to repeal the 8th amendment within Irish history and in relation to contemporary global trends in abortion rights, whilst Chapter Two clarifies the theoretical and methodological frameworks this research adopts. Chapters Three through Seven take a chronological approach, exploring activists’ experiences of growing up under the 8th amendment, their embodied and affective experiences as part of the movement for abortion rights in Ireland, and examines how the intimate, bodily, reproductive lives of Irish abortion activists have been transformed since the constitutional abortion ban was repealed in May 2018. Chapter Eight considers the limitations of this project and outlines several key areas for future research on this topic. Overall, this research proposes the concept of ‘abortion work’ to illustrate how structures of reproductive inequality are inscribed and felt at the level of the embodied, reproductive subject. I put forward the concept of ‘abortion work’ as a form of invisiblised, reproductive labour which is unevenly imposed on women and other gestational subjects. With this concept, I aim to describe the emotional, psychological, and physical labour associated with planning for and navigating access to clandestine abortions both within and outside of the Irish State. Finally, this research introduces the concept of the ‘embodied consequences’ of social movements for reproductive rights, to analyse the intersectional politics of ‘cathartic breathing’ and activist ‘burnout’ post-repeal of the 8th amendment, and to propose that social movements for abortion rights are motivated not only by a desire to secure legal access to abortion care but to transform hegemonic modes of gendered and reproductive embodiment., Economic Social Research Council DTP Cambridge Trust European Scholarship

In March 2018, the Irish government confirmed that a referendum would be held on 25 May, allowing for the Irish public to vote on the legalisation of abortion. The same month, Together for Yes – the national civil society campaign advocating for a ‘Yes’ vote in the referendum – was launched. This article draws upon findings from 27 in-depth interviews conducted in December 2019 and January 2020 with Irish abortion activists, to explore the moral and emotional construction of abortion within the ‘Yes’ campaign. This research suggests that the ‘Yes’ campaign, which secured 66% of the votes cast in the referendum, framed abortion as a negative affective object and constructed the moral permissibility of abortion along rather conservative lines. Data from the first year of abortion provision in the Republic of Ireland reveals that abortion seekers still face huge obstacles in accessing services in the State. The legislation introduced in January 2019 allows abortion on request only until 12 weeks, whilst issues remain in relation to the refusal of care. This article, therefore, concludes that by framing abortion in conservative terms, the pro-choice campaign has not yet succeeded in destigmatising abortion in Ireland – an issue now translated into limited legislation and inadequate provision of services.