DOCSLIB.ORG

In the Matter of an Application by the NI Human Rights Commission for JR

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
In the Matter of an Application by the NI Human Rights Commission for JR Trinity Term [2018] UKSC 27 On appeal from: [2017] NICA 42 JUDGMENT In the matter of an application by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission for Judicial Review (Northern Ireland) Reference by the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland pursuant to Paragraph 33 of Schedule 10 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Abortion) (Northern Ireland) before Lady Hale, President Lord Mance Lord Kerr Lord Wilson Lord Reed Lady Black Lord Lloyd-Jones JUDGMENT GIVEN ON 7 June 2018 Heard on 24, 25 and 26 October 2017 Appellant Respondent (1) (NIHRC) (Department of Justice) Nathalie Lieven QC Tony McGleenan QC Laura McMahon BL Paul McLaughlin BL David Blundell Emma McIlveen BL (Instructed by Northern (Instructed by Ireland Human Rights Departmental Solicitors Commission) Office, Department of Finance and Personnel) Respondent (2) (Attorney General for Northern Ireland) John F Larkin QC Attorney General for NI Martin Chamberlain QC Denise Kiley BL (Instructed by Office of The Attorney General for Northern Ireland) Interveners Counsel details Instructed by 1st Intervener – Humanists Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC Bhatt Murphy UK Fiona Murphy Mary-Rachel McCabe 2nd Intervener – Helen Mountfield QC Deighton Pierce Glynn United Nations Working Zoe Leventhal Group on the Issue of Anita Davies Discrimination Against Frances Raday Women in Law and Practice 3rd Intervener – (JR76) Karen Quinlivan QC Stephen Chambers Solicitors Sean Devine BL Ltd 4th Interveners – Monye Anyadike-Danes QC KRW Law (a) Sarah Ewart Adam Straw (b) Amnesty International 5th Interveners – Mark Hill QC MW Solicitors (a) Christian Action and Research in Education (CARE) (b) ADF International (UK) (c) Professor Patricia Casey 6th Intervener – Centre of Lord Goldsmith QC Debevoise and Plimpton Reproductive Rights LLP (Written submissions only) 7th Interveners – Dinah Rose QC Leigh Day (a) Family Planning Jude Bunting Association (b) British Pregnancy Advisory Service (c) Abortion Support Network (d) Birthrights (e) Royal College of Midwives (f) Alliance for Choice (g) Antenatal Results and Choices 8th Intervener – Bishops of Brett Lockhart QC Napier and Son Solicitors the Roman Catholic (Written submissions only) Dioceses in Northern Ireland 9th Intervener – The Society Adrian Colmer BL Hewitt and Gilpin Solicitors for the Protection of Unborn (Written submissions only) Children (SPUC) 10th Intervener – Equality Jason Coppel QC Equality and Human Rights and Human Rights Commission Commission (EHRC) (Written submissions only) LADY HALE: 1. This has proved an unusually difficult case to resolve. Not only are the substantive issues, relating to the compatibility of abortion law in Northern Ireland with articles 3 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the ECHR or the Convention), of considerable depth and sensitivity; but there is also the procedural issue raised by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland, who challenges the standing of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) to bring these proceedings. The court is divided on both questions, but in different ways. 2. On the substantive compatibility issues, a majority - Lord Mance, Lord Kerr, Lord Wilson and I - hold that the current law is incompatible with the right to respect for private and family life, guaranteed by article 8 of the Convention, insofar as it prohibits abortion in cases of rape, incest and fatal foetal abnormality. Lady Black agrees with that holding in the case of fatal foetal abnormality. Lord Kerr and Lord Wilson also hold that it is incompatible with the right not to be subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment, guaranteed by article 3 of the Convention. Lord Reed and Lord Lloyd-Jones hold that the law is not incompatible with either article 8 or article 3. 3. On the procedural issue, a majority - Lord Mance, Lord Reed, Lady Black and Lord Lloyd-Jones - hold that the NIHRC does not have standing to bring these proceedings and accordingly that this court has no jurisdiction to make a declaration of incompatibility to reflect the majority view on the compatibility issues. A minority - Lord Kerr, Lord Wilson and I - hold that the NIHRC does have standing and would have made a declaration of incompatibility. 4. In these unusual circumstances, it is not possible to follow our usual practice and identify a single lead judgment which represents the majority view on all issues. We have therefore decided to revert to the previous practice of the appellate committee of the House of Lords and print the judgments in order of seniority. It is for that reason only that my judgment comes first. Far more substantial judgments on all issues follow from Lord Mance and Lord Kerr. Introduction 5. The substantive questions in this case are legal issues - specifically related to the implementation in UK law, by the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA), of the ECHR, Page 3 which in turn has to be interpreted in the light of other international treaties to which the UK is a party, in this case the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women 1979 (CEDAW) and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006 (CRPD). Moral and political issues, important though they undoubtedly are, are relevant only to the extent that they are relevant to the legal issues which have to be resolved. 6. The starting point for any discussion of the legal issues has to be the right of all human beings, male and female, to decide what shall be done with their own bodies. This right has long been recognised by the common law: it is the reason why consent is needed for invasive medical treatment however well-intentioned: see Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board (General Medical Council intervening) [2015] AC 1430. It is also recognised by the ECHR: see Pretty v United Kingdom (2002) 35 EHRR 1, where it was said that “the notion of personal autonomy is an important principle underlying the interpretation of its guarantees” (para 61). For many women, becoming pregnant is an expression of that autonomy, the fulfilment of a deep-felt desire. But for those women who become pregnant, or who are obliged to carry a pregnancy to term, against their will there can be few greater invasions of their autonomy and bodily integrity. 7. The point is vividly made in Professor Thomson’s famous article (“A Defence of Abortion”, reprinted in R M Dworkin (ed), The Philosophy of Law): “You wake up in the morning and find yourself back to back in bed with an unconscious violinist. A famous unconscious violinist. He has been found to have a fatal kidney ailment, and the Society of Music Lovers has canvassed all the available medical records and found that you alone have the right blood type to help. They have therefore kidnapped you, and last night the violinist’s circulatory system was plugged into yours, so that your kidneys can be used to extract poisons from his blood as well as your own. The director of the hospital now tells you, ‘Look, we’re sorry the Society of Music Lovers did this to you - we would never have permitted it had we known. But still, they did it, and the violinist is now plugged into you. To unplug you would be to kill him. But never mind, it’s only for nine months. By then he will have recovered from his ailment, and can be safely unplugged from you’.” There can be no doubt that the grossest invasion of your legal rights has taken place: the question is whether you are now under a legal duty to endure that invasion for the next nine months. Page 4 8. By definition we are here considering the cases of women and girls who either did not want to become pregnant at all, or having experienced the joy of a wanted pregnancy, have reached the agonising conclusion that because of the foetal abnormalities, they do not wish to carry the pregnancy to term. There will of course be women who decide that they do wish to continue the pregnancy despite the circumstances. Any woman or girl who finds herself in such a situation and wants an abortion will have made her own moral choice, often a very difficult moral choice. The question is whether others, many of whom will never be placed in that situation, are entitled to make a different moral choice for her, and impose upon her a legal obligation to carry the pregnancy to term. 9. The present law, contained in sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, an Act of the UK Parliament, and section 25(1) of the Criminal Justice Act (NI) 1945, an Act of the Northern Ireland legislature, does impose that obligation upon her, unless there is a risk to her life or of serious long-term or permanent injury to her physical or mental health. Indeed, it does more than that. It has, as the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has recently pointed out, a “chilling effect” upon clinicians, who are reluctant to discuss the options for fear of being thought to “aid, abet, counsel or procure” an abortion which might be unlawful. It also discourages women who have had abortions, lawful or unlawful, from seeking proper after-care, because of section 5 of the Criminal Law Act (NI) 1967: anyone who knows or believes that an offence has been committed and has information which might be of material assistance in securing the apprehension, prosecution, or conviction of the person who committed it, commits an offence if they fail without reasonable excuse to give that information to the police within a reasonable time. The Departmental Guidance for Health and Social Care Professionals on Termination of Pregnancy in Northern Ireland (March 2016) draws professionals’ attention to both these risks.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Northern Ireland Prepared by Lex Mundi Member Firm, Arthur Cox
    Guide to Doing Business Northern Ireland Prepared by Lex Mundi member firm, Arthur Cox This guide is part of the Lex Mundi Guides to Doing Business series which provides general information about legal and business infrastructures in jurisdictions around the world. View the complete series at: www.lexmundi.com/GuidestoDoingBusiness. Lex Mundi is the world’s leading network of independent law firms with in-depth experience in 100+ countries. Through close collaboration, our member firms are able to offer their clients preferred access to more than 21,000 lawyers worldwide – a global resource of unmatched breadth and depth. Lex Mundi – the law firms that know your markets. www.lexmundi.com Lex Mundi: A Guide to Doing Business in Northern Ireland. Prepared by Arthur Cox Updated June 2016 This document is intended merely to highlight issues for general information purposes only. It is not comprehensive nor does it provide legal advice. Any and all information is subject to change without notice. No liability whatsoever is accepted by Arthur Cox for any action taken in reliance on the information herein. LEX MUNDI: A GUIDE TO DOING BUSINESS IN NORTHERN IRELAND, PREPARED BY ARTHUR COX PAGE 2 Contents I. THE COUNTRY AT-A-GLANCE ............................................................................................................. 4 A. What languages are spoken? ............................................................................................................................................................ 4 B. What is the exchange
    [Show full text]
  • The 2013 Irish Legislation on Abortion: Turning-Point Or Missed Opportunity?
    NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND GALWAY European Master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation A.Y. 2013/2014 The 2013 Irish legislation on abortion: turning-point or missed opportunity? A critical analysis from a human rights perspective Author: Chiara Cosentino Supervisor: Noelle Higgins Ackowledgements I would like to thank Noelle Higgins, from the NUI of Galway, for the supervision of the present work and for her precise and insightful comments and suggestions. Furthermore, I would like to deeply thank the contacted civil society organisations that kindly and enthusiastically agreed on allowing me to steal a bit of their time for interviews. They were fundamental for my analysis, for the perception from the ground they gave me, and for the global picture that I could capture from their different angles of perspective on the topic. In particular I would love to thank for their availability Richie Keane (Coordinator of Doctors For Choice), Sinéad Corcoran (member of the Policy and Advocacy Team of Abortion Right Campaign), Kelly Mackey (from the Campaign Office of Amnesty International Ireland), Maeve Taylor (Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer of the Irish Family Planning Association) and Dette McLoughlin, John Walshe and Joseph Loughnane (members of Galway Pro-Choice). I would also like to thank my family, my parents, my sister and my grandmother for their unconditional support, and for making my participation in this Master possible, both with their practical help and love. I missed them throughout this year, but we all know that, wherever I am, they are always in my heart. Moreover, I would like to thank all my friends, old and new, for what they mean and they will always mean to me.
    [Show full text]
  • Dáil Éireann
    DÁIL ÉIREANN AN COMHCHOISTE UM AN OCHTÚ LEASÚ AR AN MBUNREACHT JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE EIGHTH AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITU- TION Dé Céadaoin, 25 Deireadh Fómhair 2017 Wednesday, 25 October 2017 The Joint Committee met at 1.30 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Deputy James Browne, Senator Paul Gavan, Deputy Lisa Chambers, Senator Rónán Mullen, Deputy Ruth Coppinger, Senator Lynn Ruane. Deputy Clare Daly, Deputy Bernard J. Durkan, Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick, Deputy Billy Kelleher, Deputy Mattie McGrath, Deputy Catherine Murphy, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, Deputy Jonathan O’Brien, Deputy Kate O’Connell, Deputy Louise O’Reilly, Deputy Jan O’Sullivan, Deputy Anne Rabbitte, SENATOR CATHERINE NOONE IN THE CHAIR. 1 JEAC The joint committee met in private session until 2.15 p.m. Business of Joint Committee Chairman: We are now in public session. I welcome members. I welcome viewers who may be watching our proceedings on Oireachtas television to this meeting in public session of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. We will be holding three separate sessions this afternoon. The first session will address risk to mental health; the second will address termination arising from rape and the third will look at personal experience of cases of fatal foetal abnormality. We had invited the support group One More Day to that third session, however, they could not make today’s session and the secretariat will accommodate them on a date in November. I welcome Professor Veronica O’Keane to the meeting, but before I introduce her I must attend to some housekeeping matters. There are two items of correspondence that I need to read into the record.
    [Show full text]
  • Submission to the Citizens' Assembly
    Submission to the Citizens’ Assembly SUBMISSION TO THE CITIZENS’ ASSEMBLY TABLE OF CONTENTS The Abortion Rights Campaign 4 Introduction 5 Repealing the 8th Amendment 6 Why we should repeal the 8th 7 The reality of abortion in Ireland 9 The reality of the 8th Amendment in Ireland 12 International Condemnation 13 Free, Safe, Legal 15 Why we need free, safe, legal abortion access 16 Availability in the public health system 17 Abortion on request 18 Gestational limits 19 Decriminalisation 21 Conscientious objection 23 Conclusion 26 Let women choose 27 Abortion Stories 28 3 THE ABORTION RIGHTS CAMPAIGN The Abortion Rights Campaign (ARC) is a grassroots movement for choice and change in Ireland. We organise the annual March for Choice, which this year saw 20,000 people take to the streets of Dublin to demand a change to Ireland’s abortion laws. We aim to promote broad national support for a referendum to repeal the 8th Amendment and the introduction of free, safe and legal abortion access in the State. We believe women can be trusted to choose, and we aim to ensure the health and rights of women in Ireland are protected in line with international best practice and human rights standards. We welcome the opportunity to make a submission to the Citizens’ Assembly during its consideration of the 8th Amendment to the Constitution. 4 INTRODUCTION As the largest grassroots pro-choice organisation in Ireland, we represent those people directly affected by the 8th Amendment. We represent the 12 women each day who leave Irish shores to access standard medical care.
    [Show full text]
  • OUTLINE KD51-9500 Law of England and Wales KD51-59 Bibliography
    OUTLINE KD51-9500 Law of England and Wales KD51-59 Bibliography KD62 Official gazettes KD124-180 Legislation KD124-150 Statues KD166-173 Subordinate (Delegated legislation) KD175-180 Prerogative legislation KD187-300 Law reports and related materials KD310 Encyclopedias KD313 Law dictionaries. Words and phrases KD315 Legal maxims. Quotations KD318 Form books KD327-332 Judicial statistics KD336-340 Directories KD345 Society and bar association journals KD347 Congresses KD353-358 Collections KD370-379.5 Trials KD370-376 Criminal trials and judicial investigations KD378-379.5 Civil trials KD392-400 Legal research. Legal bibliography KD404 Legal composition and draftsmanship KD411 Law reporting. Law reporters KD417-452 Legal education KD456 Law societies KD460-510 The legal profession KD512-513 Community legal services. Legal aid KD530-632 History KD640 Jurisprudence and philosophy of English law KD654 Criticism. Legal reform. General administration of justice KD658-669 General and comprehensive works KD671 Common law KD674 Equity KD680-685 Conflict of laws KD687 Retroactive law. Intertemporal law KD691-700 General principles and concepts KD703 Concepts applying to several branches of law KD720-721 Private (Civil) law KD723-785 Persons KD723-746 General. Status. Capacity KD750-785 Domestic relations. Family law vii OUTLINE Law of England and Wales - Continued KD810-1465 Property KD810-815 General. Ownership. Possession KD821-1195 Real property. Land law KD833-1020.6 Land tenure. Transfer of rights in land. Real estate management KD1034-1195 Public property. Public restraints on private property KD1035 Conservation of natural resources KD1040-1048 Roads KD1070-1072 Water resources. Rivers. Water courses KD1090-1107 Public land law KD1125-1162 Regional and city planning.
    [Show full text]
  • The Pro-Choice Movement in Ireland Áine Ní Mhainnín
    mhAinnín | Pro Choice 38 mhAinnín | Pro Choice The power of women’s voices: the pro-choice movement in Ireland ÁIne ní mhaInnín avita Halappanavar was 31 years old. Originally from India, she moved to the west of Ireland to be Swith her husband, Praveen. On 21st October 2012, she and Praveen arrived at University College Hospital Galway. Savita was 17 weeks pregnant and suffering from back pain. Told she was miscar- - fused each time, once given the reason that Ireland was a ‘Catholic country’. Finally, after Savita had spent 2 ½ days in agony, the foetal heartbeat stopped and the foetus was removed. Savita died on 28 October 2012. Her death was recorded as a result of severe sepsis, E. coli in the bloodstream and a miscarriage at 17 weeks. Having returned from Savita’s funeral in India, Praveen recounted her story to the Irish Times. It was woman to die through refusing her a termination, was receiving global attention. That evening, within only a few hours of the story being posted, several hundred attended a vigil outside the Dáil (Irish rallies did not occur in a bubble, but have been the focal point of a change of mood over the last year or so in relation to a woman’s right to choose. Ireland’s barbaric position came about through the suc- cess of anti-choice lobby groups in blurring the distinction between Church and State, resulting in a Background The 1861 Offences Against the Person Act prohibited the procurement of a miscarriage within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
    [Show full text]
  • Northern Irish Legal Education After Brexit
    Northern Irish Legal Education After Brexit Flear, M. L., & Mac Sithigh, D. (2019). Northern Irish Legal Education After Brexit. The Law Teacher, 53(2), 148- 159. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069400.2019.1589745 Published in: The Law Teacher Document Version: Peer reviewed version Queen's University Belfast - Research Portal: Link to publication record in Queen's University Belfast Research Portal Publisher rights © 2019 The Association of Law Teachers. This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. Please refer to any applicable terms of use of the publisher. General rights Copyright for the publications made accessible via the Queen's University Belfast Research Portal is retained by the author(s) and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Take down policy The Research Portal is Queen's institutional repository that provides access to Queen's research output. Every effort has been made to ensure that content in the Research Portal does not infringe any person's rights, or applicable UK laws. If you discover content in the Research Portal that you believe breaches copyright or violates any law, please contact [email protected]. Download date:01. Oct. 2021 Northern Irish Legal Education after Brexit Mark L Flear and Daithí Mac Síthigh* In this article we argue that the impact of Brexit on the law schools in Northern Ireland is tied to the ‘unique circumstances’ of legal education in this part of the world. Legal education in Northern Ireland is likely to develop to become even more distinctive than that in other parts of the UK.
    [Show full text]
  • Women's Legal Landmarks
    Women’s Legal Landmarks Celebrating the History of Women and Law in the UK and Ireland Edited by Erika Rackley and Rosemary Auchmuty HART PUBLISHING Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Kemp House , Chawley Park, Cumnor Hill, Oxford , OX2 9PH , UK HART PUBLISHING, the Hart/Stag logo, BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published in Great Britain 2019 Reprinted 2019 Copyright © The editors and contributors severally 2019 The editors and contributors have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identifi ed as Authors of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. While every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of this work, no responsibility for loss or damage occasioned to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of any statement in it can be accepted by the authors, editors or publishers. All UK Government legislation and other public sector information used in the work is Crown Copyright © . All House of Lords and House of Commons information used in the work is Parliamentary Copyright © . This information is reused under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 ( http://www. nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 ) except where otherwise stated. All Eur-lex material used in the work is © European Union, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/ , 1998–2019.
    [Show full text]
  • A Reproductive Right, Or a Moral Profligacy?
    A REPRODUCTIVE RIGHT, OR A MORAL PROFLIGACY? A POLICY PAPER DISCUSSING THE LEGISLATIVE FUTURE FOR MALTA An Għaqda Studenti Tal-Liġi Policy Paper © Għaqda Studenti tal-Liġi 2020 OPENING REMARKS INTRODUCTION It is with great pleasure that I present A multidisciplinary modus operandi was to you this year’s GħSL policy paper employed to offer a holistic discussion addressing the subject of Abortion, a and this was achieved through a paper which is the culmination of the thorough examination of pertinent comprehensive work of the GħSL Policy areas beyond the legal sphere such as Office. medical research, ethical considerations involved, as well as the psychological GħSL strives to keep law students as aspects, among others. well as society as a whole abreast regarding current legal issues in Malta. Moreover, a comparative exercise was An ongoing area of contention featuring carried out, whereby the laws regulating, across local media centres around the restricting and prohibiting abortion were topic of abortion. Due to the polarised evaluated. This contributed towards a views on this subject, the GħSL comprehensive outcome of this policy Executive Board decided that it would paper and provided a robust reference be opportune to delve into this topic. point for active and potential students alike. As a body representing the interests of law students, throughout this paper our Finally, I would like to thank the main focus was to maintain and uphold colleagues of GħSL, including all those an impartial appreciation of the law who contributed to this paper, namely while taking into account the sensitive Dr Desiree Attard, Andrew Sciberras, nature of this topic.
    [Show full text]
  • Human Rights Compliant Framework for Abortion in Ireland
    16 December 2016 Amnesty International Ireland HUMAN RIGHTS COMPLIANT FRAMEWORK FOR ABORTION IN IRELAND Submission to the Citizens’ Assembly DEFINITIONS International human rights treaty: also sometimes called a Covenant or a Convention, is adopted by the international community of States, normally at the United Nations General Assembly. Each treaty sets out a range of human rights, and corresponding obligations which are legally binding on States that have ratified the treaty. Treaty monitoring body: each of the international human rights treaties is monitored by a designated treaty monitoring body. The treaty monitoring bodies are committees composed of independent experts. Their main function is to monitor the States’ compliance with the treaty in question, including through the examination of State reports. General comments/recommendations: a treaty monitoring body’s interpretation of the con- tent of human rights provisions on thematic issues or its methods of work. General com- ments seek to clarify the reporting duties of State parties with respect to certain provisions and suggest approaches to implementing treaty provisions. Concluding observations: following submission of a State report and a constructive di- alogue with the State party to the particular convention, treaty monitoring bodies issue concluding observations to the reporting State, which are compiled in an annual report and sent to the United Nations General Assembly. Human rights standards: the meaning and scope of human rights as interpreted and applied by the human rights bodies tasked with this work, e.g. international, regional and national courts, and human rights committees. Drawn from the World Health Organisation’s Safe abortion: technical and policy guidance for health systems, second edition (2012) Human Rights Compliant Framework for Abortion in Ireland - Submission to the Citizens’ Assembly CONTENTS DEFINITIONS............................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Discourse and Power in Ireland's Repeal the 8Th Movement
    Interface: a journal for and about social movements Article Volume 13 (1): 193 – 224 (July 2021) McKimmons and Caffrey, Ireland’s Repeal movement Discourse and power in Ireland’s Repeal the 8th movement Elaine McKimmons and Louise Caffrey Abstract Understanding the success of social movements in terms of their situatedness in the social and historical context is a necessary direction for social movement research. In Ireland, much of the research on reproductive rights activism since the 2018 referendum that legalised abortion has examined distinct aspects of the movement that might be improved going forward. The present study endeavoured to examine the discursive strategies used by the Repeal campaign. Qualitative data, collected from 23 activists from the ‘Repeal the 8th Campaign’ at a critical moment in time - ten months before the referendum - were subjected to critical discourse analysis. Situating the Repeal movement within a theoretical framework, we propose that initial pro-choice activism since 1983 maintained the abeyant movement until the receptive environment re-opened. From 2012 to 2018 pro-choice activists capitalised on the newly receptive environment to remove Article 40.3.3 from the Constitution of Ireland successfully. Findings demonstrate how activists created social change by mainstreaming discursive categories that were not previously culturally dominant, drawing on discourses of feminism, modernity versus traditionalism and approaches of strategic consciousness-raising. Keywords: Feminism, Pro-choice Activism, Repeal the 8th, Intersectionality, Social Movement Lifecycle, Critical Discourse Analysis. Introduction In 1983, the Irish public voted to enact the Eighth Amendment to the Irish Constitution (Article 40.3.3). The Eighth amendment was deemed by Irish law to make abortion illegal in all cases – except where there was a ‘real and substantial risk to the life of the mother’ (Attorney General v.
    [Show full text]
  • Heresa Morrow: RTÉ One TV: the Late Late Show: 8Th Jan 2016…………………………….81
    Broadcasting Authority of Ireland Broadcasting Complaint Decisions September 2016 Broadcasting Complaint Decisions Contents BAI Complaints Handling Process Page 4 Upheld by the BAI Compliance Committee 26/16 - Mr. Francis Clauson: TV3: ‘The Power to Power Ourselves’ (Advert): 10th Jan 2016………………5 27/16 - Mr. Francis Clauson: RTÉ One TV: ‘The Power to Power Ourselves’ (Advert): 16th Jan 2016….…9 29/16 - Intro Matchmaking: Sunshine 106.8: Two’s Company (Advert):16th Feb 2016…………….………13 Rejected by the BAI Compliance Committee 7/16 - Mr. Brendan Burgess: RTÉ One TV: Ireland’s Great Wealth Divide: 21st Sept 2015……………….16 13/16 - Mr. Martin Hawkes: RTÉ One TV: Prime Time: 3rd Dec 2015……………………………………….23 15/16 - An Taisce: RTÉ One TV: Prime Time: 3rd Dec 2015………………………………………………….28 30/16 - Mr. Pawel Rydzewski: RTÉ One TV: The Late Late Show: 22nd Jan 2016…………………………38 32/16 - Mr Séamus Enright: TV3: TV3 Leaders’ Debate: 11th Feb 2016………………………………….…41 35/16 - Mr. John Flynn: RTÉ One TV: The Late Late Show: 19th Feb 2016…………………………………45 37/16 - Mr. Enda Fanning: RTÉ One TV: The Late Late Show: 19th Feb 2016……………………………48 Rejected by the Executive Complaints Forum 8-10/16 - Mr. Brendan O’ Regan: Newstalk: The Pat Kenny Show: 2nd – 4th Dec 2015……………………52 19/16 - Ms. Patricia Kearney: RTÉ Radio 1: When Dave Met Bob: 29th Dec 2015…………………………58 21/16 – Ms. Mary Jo Gilligan: RTÉ Radio 1: The Ray D’Arcy Show: 14th Nov 2015………………………61 22/16 - Mr. Brendan O’ Regan: Newstalk: Lunchtime: 30th Nov 2015…………………………………….…64 23/16 - Mr. Brendan O’ Regan: Newstalk: The Pat Kenny Show: 1st Dec 2015………………………….…64 25/16 - Mr.
    [Show full text]