Irish literature about abortion has an intense focus on women as real people with real stories, said Assistant Professor of English Elizabeth Fredericks at a lecture on Oct. 5.

College Democrats hosted the lecture as part of their exploration of a post-Dobbs world. Frederick’s lecture, “Ireland & the 8th Amendment: A historical and literary tour,” focused on the Irish literary and poetric tradition surrounding abortion and other women’s issues. 

“We’re looking at kind of history and literature in relation to this particular topic, not as a prognostication of what would happen in the United States and not as a litmus test on right and wrong,” Fredericks said at the start of her lecture. 

She presented a historic and legal overview of the 8th Amendment, which guaranteed the equal right to life of an unborn child and mother in 1983.  

In her speech, Fredericks focused on the historic alternatives to abortion Irish women had, such as the Magdalene Laundries, run by the Catholic Church starting in 1765.

According to Fredericks, the Laundries quickly became an unofficial part of the penal system in Ireland. 

“Because they are not officially part of the prison system, women don’t have sentences that fix their time there,” Fredericks said. “You could have women who were in the Magdalene Laundries for decades.” 

In the 20th century, Mother and Child Homes largely took the place of the Magdalene Laundries, according to Fredericks. She said mothers and children faced horrifying abuse in these homes. 

Irish film and literature has wrestled with the legacy of the two institutions since the last Mother and Baby Home closed in 1998, Fredericks said. 

“Ireland is a small country. Its population to this day is around five and a half million people,” Fredericks said. “A lot of people know people who passed through the system or had parents or grandparents who passed through it.” 

According to Fredericks, Irish abortion laws contributed to the prominence of Magdalene Laundries and Mother and Baby Homes long before the 8th Amendment passed. She said the amendment merely placed additional legal structures on an 1861 law that criminalized abortion. 

By recognizing the equal right to life of a mother and her unborn child rather than an equal right to healthcare, Fredericks said the 8th Amendment pitted the life of the fetus against the life of the mother. 

“In an abortion, the risk to the life of a fetus is 100%, but that means in order to take care of the mother, the risk to the mother’s life needs to be 100% as well,” Fredericks said. “She needs to be actively dying for her health to supersede that of the fetus.” 

Fredericks said several national controversies contributed to the repeal of the 8th Amendment in 2018, like the death of Savita Halappanavar, a young Indian woman who began to miscarry while on vacation with her husband in County Galway. 

Hapapannavar requested the termination of her pregnancy, but because doctors could detect a fetal heartbeat, they were barred from doing so by the 8th Amendment. A few days later, Halappanavar and her child died. 

“This is a real pivotal moment because she’s Hindu, she’s not Catholic, she’s not Irish, she’s married. This is a pregnancy that is wanted, and she dies because of Ireland’s abortion laws,” Fredericks said. “If you could get a perfect victim, Savita Halappanavar is that for the Irish, and protests broke out across the country.” 

Fredericks concluded the lecture by reading a poem dedicated to Halappanavar by Doireann Ní Ghríofa. 

Hillsdale College for Life President and junior Sabrina Nardone said she knew nothing about abortion in Ireland before attending the lecture, but quickly noticed a difference between American and Irish preganancy care. 

“Knowing how wonderful our pregnancy resource centers are, especially Helping Hands in Hillsdale, it was sad to see that that was what women had as their alternatives,” Nardone said.

Junior Avery Noel, College Democrats vice president, said he was happy to see the members of the pro-life club at the lecture. 

“On this campus, it’s really important to have dialogue,” Noel said. “We’re in a college that is very conservative. I think it’s nice to have at least a history of the issue, specifically one that is so closely tied to religion at a very religious institution.”