May McGee was a young, hearing-impaired mother to four children under the age of two living in a caravan when she took the Irish State to the Supreme Court challenging its position on contraception, and won. Complicated pregnancies, including a stroke she suffered in one, meant that she was advised to take contraception by her doctor. But the spermicidal jelly she ordered in the post was intercepted by Customs, and she and her husband were threatened with prison. She was furious at the Government interfering in her private life.

Source: Irish Examiner January 04, 2026 23:10 UTC