1985 : Ireland allows sale of contraceptives
In a highly controversial vote on February 20, 1985, 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.
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. 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. 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. 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.
history.com/tdih.do
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihVideoCategory&id=52408
1725 : American colonists practice scalping
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4775
1962 : An American orbits earth
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6813
1986 : Chunnel plans announced
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=50497
##########################################
In a highly controversial vote on February 20, 1985, 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.
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. 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. 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. 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.
history.com/tdih.do
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihVideoCategory&id=52408
1725 : American colonists practice scalping
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4775
1962 : An American orbits earth
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6813
1986 : Chunnel plans announced
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=50497
##########################################
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