Finding the truth - How women in Ireland constructed their knowledge on abortion in a pre-legalised state.

Abstract

How women form their knowledge about abortion in Ireland was researched, through 6 interviews of mothers and daughter using semi-structured interviews’ based on feminist research methods. The outcomes of the interviews were analysed in an Irish context, considering previous Irish feminist scholars’ work and in the context of Irish political and social history. How women found information was shown to have changed over time. Feminist activism and civic feminism played a huge role. Over time the movement for change in the laws about access to abortion grew stronger, as a result of civic feminism and better access to information. The movement was successful in changing Irish law by public vote.