"(R)evolutionary Feminist Politics in Contemporary Irish Women's Literature" (NeMLA 2025 Roundtable)
In 21st-century Ireland, women have experienced several (r)evolutions in their political rights that have, in turn, shaped the imagination of the nation. Irish abortion law faced a major public challenge with the 2012 death of Savita Halappanavar after she was denied an abortion while suffering a septic miscarriage; in 2018, lawmakers passed a law that allows abortion up to week 12 of pregnancy, a small victory in a nation where abortion under any circumstances beyond saving the life of the mother was forbidden.