In 1971, a group of Irish feminists took a train from Dublin to Belfast. Returning with contraband condoms and packs of the Pill, they dared the gardai to arrest them at the border. Sale or importation of contraceptives was illegal in the Republic until 1985. Northern Irish women had the right to plan their families decades before their sisters in the theocratic South.

As I write, Ireland is deciding whether to repeal its Eighth Amendment, which bans abortion unless the mother’s life is in peril. If passed, a liberal regime including termination on demand until 12 weeks will put Ireland in line with most EU nations. Decades of miserable, lone Irish women heading in secret to Britain will finally end.

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