This article explores the contraception campaigns of Irishwomen United (I.W.U.) and their offshoot, the Contraception Action Programme (CAP), in the Republic of Ireland from 1975 to 1981. It draws on ten oral history interviews with former members of I.W.U. and CAP conducted by the author, in addition to feminist magazines, newspaper sources and the Roisin Conroy/Attic Press archive. For Irish feminists, the issue of class was paramount to their contraception campaigns while, in common with their counterparts in the United States, they were also concerned about the increasing medicalisation of women's bodies and the potential health risks of the contraceptive pill, commonly prescribed as a ‘cycle regulator’ in Ireland. Fundamentally, I.W.U. and CAP members believed in a women's movement that allowed for the equal distribution of sexual knowledge and access to contraception. In this way, they foregrounded the connection between health and economic rights. Through their demonstrations, meetings and service provision, in unconventional spaces such as shops, markets, community centres and caravans, they challenged not only the law, but also the authority of both religious patriarchy and medical expertise in Ireland. Through an exploration of the activities of I.W.U./CAP, this article will contribute to understandings of campaigns around contraception and, with my commitment to profiling the experiences of ‘rank and file’ women, it will highlight class inequalities and concerns surrounding the medicalisation of women's bodies to a larger extent than has been done before. It also seeks to show the importance of informal women's networks in providing access to contraception and information about contraception pre-legalisation. Moreover, the article seeks to further elucidate the contribution of Irish grassroots organisations which have received limited historical attention.

中文翻译：

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爱尔兰妇女联合会、避孕行动计划和爱尔兰免费、安全和合法避孕的女权运动，c.1975–81

本文探讨了 1975 年至 1981 年爱尔兰妇女联合会 (IWU) 及其分支机构避孕行动计划 (CAP) 的避孕运动。它借鉴了对 IWU 和 CAP 前成员进行的十次口述历史采访作者，除了女权主义杂志、报纸来源和 Roisin Conroy/阁楼新闻档案。对于爱尔兰女权主义者来说，阶级问题对她们的避孕运动至关重要，而与美国的女权主义者一样，她们也担心女性身体的日益医学化以及避孕药的潜在健康风险，避孕药通常被规定为爱尔兰的“循环调节器”。从根本上说，IWU 和 CAP 成员相信女性 允许平等分配性知识和获得避孕药具的运动。通过这种方式，他们突出了健康与经济权利之间的联系。通过他们在商店、市场、社区中心和大篷车等非常规空间的示威、会议和服务提供，他们不仅挑战了法律，而且挑战了爱尔兰宗教父权制和医学专业知识的权威。通过对 IWU/CAP 活动的探索，本文将有助于理解围绕避孕的运动，并且由于我致力于剖析“普通”女性的经历，它将强调围绕女性避孕药化的阶级不平等和担忧。身体比以前更大的程度。它还试图表明非正式妇女网络在提供避孕途径和有关避孕法前的信息方面的重要性。此外，本文旨在进一步阐明历史上受到有限关注的爱尔兰草根组织的贡献。