Rains, Stephanie (2021) “No irregularity or obstruction can resist them”: advertising of abortion pills in the Irish press, 1890–1930. Irish Studies Review, 29 (4). pp. 407-424. ISSN 0967-0882

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Abstract

This article demonstrates the extent of advertising in the Irish press in the years before and after the foundation of the Irish Free State for the “female pills” widely understood to induce abortions. These advertisements appeared very frequently in a wide range of Irish publications for several decades prior to 1922, and the article establishes the ways in which the advertisements functioned as an open secret strategically ignored by both legal and moral authorities. The style and content of the advertisements themselves, which allowed this open secret to operate in plain sight, is explored in detail, along with the context in which the advertisements were produced, circulated and likely understood by women readers. The article concludes by examining the advertisements’ gradual and then complete disappearance from the Irish press, especially in light of the Free State legislation enacted during the 1920s.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Cite as:Rains, S., 2021. “No irregularity or obstruction can resist them”: advertising of abortion pills in the Irish press, 1890–1930. Irish Studies Review 29, 407–424.. https://doi.org/10.1080/09670882.2021.1975928
Keywords:	Female pills; abortion; social purity; Irish Free State; advertising; Irish press;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Arts & Humanities > School of English, Media & Theatre Studies > Media Studies
Item ID:	17991
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1080/09670882.2021.1975928
Depositing User:	Stephanie Rains
Date Deposited:	04 Jan 2024 15:52
Journal or Publication Title:	Irish Studies Review
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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