Download or read book In the Shadow of the Eighth: My Forty Years Working for Women's Health in Ireland written by Peter Boylan and published by Penguin Group. This book was released on 2020-06-18 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Having realized as a young doctor that Irish women's reproductive lives were shaped by church and state, particularly by the eighth amendment that enshrined the Irish constitutional ban on abortion, Peter Boylan vowed to do what he could to change things. From introducing sterilization to the National Maternity Hospital in the early 1990s, to his focus on the tragic consequences of the eighth amendment (and tireless work for its repeal in 2018), to his highlighting of the dangers of the National Maternity Hospital coming under church control, Boylan has been calm and steadfast. This book is an engaging account of working in one of medicine's most satisfying specialties, a revealing insight into what it's like trying to make change happen, and a fascinating portrait of a society in transition. Lively, gripping, sometimes enraging but always compassionate, Peter Boylan's story is vital and encouraging reading.