Okla-homey
2/20/2009, 07:07 AM
February 20, 1985: Ireland allows sale of contraceptives
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/6724/mapkissmeimirishlgjo9.jpg
24 years ago today, in a highly controversial vote, the Irish government defies the powerful Catholic Church and approves the sale of contraceptives.
Up until 1979, Irish law prohibited the importation and sale of contraceptives. In a 1973 case, McGee v. The Attorney General, the Irish Supreme Court found that a constitutional right to marital privacy covered the use of contraceptives.
Pressured by strong conservative forces in Irish society, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, the government was slow to change the law to reflect the court's decision, and a number of proposed bills failed before reaching the books.
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/8302/mapirishposterkx5.png
Although now legal in Ireland, the use of contraception is still frowned upon by many in Ireland, thus campaigns such as this are financed.
In 1979, the Irish health minister, Charles Haughey, introduced a bill limiting the legal provision of contraceptives to "bona fide family planning purposes." Signed into law in November 1980, the Health (Family Planning) Act ensured that contraceptives could be sold by a registered pharmacist to customers with a valid medical prescription.
Still, many people saw the law as too strict. Over the next several years, a movement began to make contraceptives more easily available, causing bitter divisions inside and outside of the Dail, Ireland's main house of Parliament.
As the government debated the changes, Catholic Church leaders railed against them, warning that increased access to contraceptives would encourage the moral decay of Ireland, leading to more illegitimate children and increased rates of abortion and venereal disease. :rolleyes:
On the eve of the vote in early 1985, the Dublin archbishop claimed the legislation would send Ireland down a "slippery slope of moral degradation." Some politicians were even threatened with violence if they voted for the legislation.
On February 20, 1985, a coalition of the Fine Gael and Labour parties led by Dr. Garret FitzGerald defeated the opposition of the conservative Fianna Fail party by an 83-80 vote.
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/153/mapgarretfitzgerald2sj6.jpg
FitzGerald was one of the Republic of Ireland's most popular politicians, known to all sides simply as 'Garret'. He served three times as Taoiseach (prime minister) as well as an earlier stint as Minister for Foreign Affairs. His gregarious nature, his notorious ability to talk faster than many thought humanly possible, and his 'absent minded professor' image, made him a major political force in from his entry into Irish politics in the mid 1960s until his retirement in 1992. He now writes a weekly column for The Irish Times
The new legislation made non-medical contraceptives (condoms and spermicides) available without prescriptions to people over 18 at pharmacies; it also allowed for the distribution of these contraceptives at doctors' offices, hospitals and family planning clinics.
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/2079/irishmapeuropeei7.jpg
Contraception is legal in Ireland now, but abortion is severely restricted
Though it was still illegal to advertise contraceptives and use of the birth control pill remained restricted, the vote marked a major turning point in Irish history--the first-ever defeat of the Catholic Church in a head-to-head battle with the government on social legislation.
http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/6513/insane7zovq3.jpg
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/6724/mapkissmeimirishlgjo9.jpg
24 years ago today, in a highly controversial vote, the Irish government defies the powerful Catholic Church and approves the sale of contraceptives.
Up until 1979, Irish law prohibited the importation and sale of contraceptives. In a 1973 case, McGee v. The Attorney General, the Irish Supreme Court found that a constitutional right to marital privacy covered the use of contraceptives.
Pressured by strong conservative forces in Irish society, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, the government was slow to change the law to reflect the court's decision, and a number of proposed bills failed before reaching the books.
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/8302/mapirishposterkx5.png
Although now legal in Ireland, the use of contraception is still frowned upon by many in Ireland, thus campaigns such as this are financed.
In 1979, the Irish health minister, Charles Haughey, introduced a bill limiting the legal provision of contraceptives to "bona fide family planning purposes." Signed into law in November 1980, the Health (Family Planning) Act ensured that contraceptives could be sold by a registered pharmacist to customers with a valid medical prescription.
Still, many people saw the law as too strict. Over the next several years, a movement began to make contraceptives more easily available, causing bitter divisions inside and outside of the Dail, Ireland's main house of Parliament.
As the government debated the changes, Catholic Church leaders railed against them, warning that increased access to contraceptives would encourage the moral decay of Ireland, leading to more illegitimate children and increased rates of abortion and venereal disease. :rolleyes:
On the eve of the vote in early 1985, the Dublin archbishop claimed the legislation would send Ireland down a "slippery slope of moral degradation." Some politicians were even threatened with violence if they voted for the legislation.
On February 20, 1985, a coalition of the Fine Gael and Labour parties led by Dr. Garret FitzGerald defeated the opposition of the conservative Fianna Fail party by an 83-80 vote.
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/153/mapgarretfitzgerald2sj6.jpg
FitzGerald was one of the Republic of Ireland's most popular politicians, known to all sides simply as 'Garret'. He served three times as Taoiseach (prime minister) as well as an earlier stint as Minister for Foreign Affairs. His gregarious nature, his notorious ability to talk faster than many thought humanly possible, and his 'absent minded professor' image, made him a major political force in from his entry into Irish politics in the mid 1960s until his retirement in 1992. He now writes a weekly column for The Irish Times
The new legislation made non-medical contraceptives (condoms and spermicides) available without prescriptions to people over 18 at pharmacies; it also allowed for the distribution of these contraceptives at doctors' offices, hospitals and family planning clinics.
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/2079/irishmapeuropeei7.jpg
Contraception is legal in Ireland now, but abortion is severely restricted
Though it was still illegal to advertise contraceptives and use of the birth control pill remained restricted, the vote marked a major turning point in Irish history--the first-ever defeat of the Catholic Church in a head-to-head battle with the government on social legislation.
http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/6513/insane7zovq3.jpg