Tributes pour in for Mary 'May' McGee whose Supreme Court case helped end contraception ban
When Mary 'May' McGee was in her late 20s, she had four babies in just 23 months, between December 1968 and November 1970.
Tributes have poured in for the “amazing” Mary 'May' McGee, who won a landmark legal case for reproductive rights and access to contraception at the Supreme Court in 1973.
The efforts of Ms McGee, who died on Tuesday, for access to contraception as a married woman in the 1970s paved the way for how reproductive care is given in Ireland today. In her late 20s then, she had four babies in just 23 months, between December 1968 and November 1970.
It was not an easy time as she had several health challenges in pregnancy, including a stroke before the birth of her second child. At the time, it was not illegal to use contraceptives, but it was illegal to sell, offer, advertise or import them.
When the family GP advised Ms McGee and her husband Séamus to start using contraception to protect her health, she was reluctant at first.
Speaking to columnist Clodagh Finn in 2022, she explained what happened after she decided to have a diaphragm inserted.
This requires the use of spermicide jelly, but when they ordered this from the UK, it was intercepted by Customs officials. The couple was told they could be fined or even jailed.
“I was livid that somebody in government could tell us how to live our lives. I wasn’t going to back down,” she said.
Their GP, James Loughran, was part of the then-new Irish Family Planning Association. He helped them begin what became a marathon court battle.
Ms McGee gave evidence at a High Court hearing in June 1972. “It was horrible,” she said.
She recalled telling the judge: “Religion is important, but I still think we have a right to live as human beings. We are husband and wife, and we cannot live as brother and sister.”
Mr McGee, equally bluntly, told the court: “I’d prefer to see her use contraceptives than be placing flowers on her grave.”
They had support from women’s rights campaigners, and the World Health Organisation wrote to them. They also received angry letters, denouncing them as a disgrace to a Catholic country.
That case was rejected, leading to a Supreme Court appeal in November 1973. The following month, four of the five judges ruled in their favour.
They ruled contraception was a matter for husband and wife and should be free of interference from the State.
In an interview[/url with the in 2016, Ms McGee said: “I felt when I took the case that most women probably felt the same as me. I was doing it for me, but for other women too, for my mam too, in a way.
“She couldn’t fight her battle, but she fought for others, and I wanted to carry that on. Life’s not that hard. Let us make decisions for ourselves so that we can be happy in our own lives.”
Mr McGee died last year.
Their son Darren spoke about the couple on Wednesday, describing his mother as “amazing” and his father as “a very modern man in a very backward time”.
His mother changed Irish society, he told RTÉ’s . “She just believed that the Church shouldn’t have that power or autonomy over people’s decisions in life,” he said.
Callers to the show described them as “brave”. Many older callers recalled the impact on their own lives at the time.
On Saturday, a celebration of her life will be marked at Dardistown Crematorium. The family have requested people wear bright colours to the service.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
