The twentieth-century history of men and women’s attempts to gain access to reproductive health services in the Republic of Ireland has been significantly shaped by Ireland’s social and religious context. Although contraception was illegal in Ireland from 1935 to 1979, declining family sizes in this period suggest that many Irish men and women were practising fertility control measures. From the mid-1960s, the contraceptive pill was marketed in Ireland as a ‘cycle regulator’. In order to obtain a prescription for the pill, Irish women would therefore complain to their doctors that they had heavy periods or irregular cycles. However, doing so could mean going against one’s faith, and also depended on finding a sympathetic doctor. The contraceptive pill was heavily prescribed in Ireland during the 1960s and 1970s as it was the only contraceptive available legally, albeit prescribed through ‘coded language’. The pill was critiqued by men and women on both sides of the debate over the legalisation of contraception. Anti-contraception activists argued that the contraceptive pill was an abortifacient, while both anti-contraception activists and feminist campaigners alike drew attention to its perceived health risks. As well as outlining these discussions, the paper also illustrates the importance of medical authority in the era prior to legalisation, and the significance of doctors’ voices in relation to debates around the contraceptive pill. However, in spite of medical authority, it is clear that Irish women exercised significant agency in gaining access to the pill.

中文翻译：

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1964-79 年爱尔兰的避孕药：激进主义、女性和医患关系

爱尔兰共和国的男性和女性试图获得生殖健康服务的 20 世纪历史很大程度上受到爱尔兰社会和宗教背景的影响。尽管从 1935 年到 1979 年避孕在爱尔兰是非法的，但这一时期家庭人数的减少表明许多爱尔兰男性和女性正在实施生育控制措施。从 1960 年代中期开始，避孕药作为“周期调节剂”在爱尔兰销售。因此，为了获得避孕药的处方，爱尔兰妇女会向医生抱怨她们的月经过多或周期不规律。但是，这样做可能意味着违背一个人的信仰，并且还取决于找到一个有同情心的医生。避孕药在 1960 年代和 1970 年代期间在爱尔兰大量使用，因为它是唯一合法可用的避孕药，尽管是通过“密码语言”开具的。在避孕合法化的辩论中，男女双方都批评了避孕药。反避孕活动家认为避孕药是一种堕胎药，而反避孕活动家和女权主义活动家都提请注意其感知的健康风险。除了概述这些讨论之外，该论文还说明了医疗权威在合法化之前的时代的重要性，以及医生的声音在围绕避孕药的辩论中的重要性。然而，尽管有医疗权威，但很明显，爱尔兰妇女在获得避孕药方面发挥了重要作用。