Everyday Bordering and the Struggle for Reproductive Justice in Ireland

Abstract

AbstractThe bodies of women and pregnant persons are unceasingly at the centre of nation-building projects and increasingly subject to bordering processes. State borders are becoming ever more delocalised and mobile, as state migration regimes move into and circumscribe the everyday and intimate lives and rights of persons deemed not to belong. In a growing number of EU member states, rights to healthcare and housing inter alia are tied to a person’s legal-political status. However, little attention has yet been paid to the effects of bordering on organising for and realising reproductive justice. Following the repeal of the 8th Amendment (the abortion ban) in 2018 in Ireland, conversations and contestations are taking place that serve as a compelling starting point to explore the implications of bordering on organising for and realising reproductive justice. In this chapter, I explore the calls made by the migrant and ethnic minority bloc during the March for Choice 2019 in Dublin, which link state borders to reproductive injustice in Ireland. I draw on preliminary fieldwork conducted in Dublin, interviews and informal conversations online, and secondary material, to understand how colonial, raced, sexed and gendered borders are reproduced and, more importantly, contested in the struggle for reproductive rights and justice in Ireland.