The ICMA Information Package on Medical Abortion available in En, Fr, Ru, Es, Pt, Ar, Hi

Acknowledgements

Information for women

Information for women's organizations and NGOs

Information for health care providers

Information for policymakers

Selected resources on medical abortion

Subscribe to News
Enter your e-mail:

Enter Check code:

Subscribe in a reader

News

Home > News > Extend Abortion Act to Northern Ireland, say MPs

Extend Abortion Act to Northern Ireland, say MPs

Source: http://www.abortionreview.org

25.07.08 MPs have tabled an amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill to give women in Northern Ireland the same abortion rights as in Britain.

The amendment was tabled by Labour MP Diane Abbott on the last day of the parliamentary session and will not be debated until the Autumn.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill is expected to reach report stage in the House of Commons after the summer recess – probably some time from mid-October. MPs will have a free vote on this issue then.

Northern Ireland is not covered by the 1967 Abortion Act. Women living there do not have access to safe abortion and are denied the NHS treatment and funding for abortion permitted to other UK women.

Ms Abbott says she believes there is ‘a very good chance’ of the amendment being passed by MPs - but it would face stiff opposition from Northern Ireland MPs who are against such a change.

All the main Northern Ireland parties at Westminster oppose moves to extend abortion rights. There was speculation last month, at the time of the vote on detaining terror suspects for up to 42 days, that assurances were given to the Democratic Unionist Party that the abortion legislation would not be extended to Northern Ireland. The nine DUP MPs were crucial to the government winning that vote - although Gordon Brown insisted there had been no deals.

Despite this, supporters are hopeful that the amendment may be successful as the abortion time limit that applies to the rest of the UK was discussed as part of the HFE legislation, so it would be difficult to rule it out of order.

The Northern Ireland amendment was backed by Labour MPs John McDonnell and Katy Clark, plus Tories Jacqui Lait and John Bercow and Liberal Democrat Evan Harris.

Diane Abbot MP said:

‘This fundamental inequity must be remedied. Forty years after the 1967 Act women in Northern Ireland are still facing conditions more reminiscent of the 19th century. All women in the UK must be given fair and rapid access to safe, legal abortion when they need it. The Abortion Act must be extended to include women in Northern Ireland.’

Dr Audrey Simpson, Director of fpa Northern Ireland, said:

‘A Northern Irish woman in the twenty first century who is the victim of rape or incest is expected to give birth, or find up to £2,000 to travel for treatment in England where women have the right to access safe abortion. These are a vulnerable group of women who need support – not to be forced to find money and travel long distances on their own.’

Marge Berer, Chair of Voice for Choice, the coalition of pro-choice groups in the UK, said:

‘This is an opportunity for the voices of the women of Northern Ireland to be heard. The UK Parliament must stop ignoring the needs of its own citizens.’

MPs pushing abortion rights in NI. BBC News, 23 July 2008

‘Move to give Northern Irish women full family planning rights: MPs seek equal access to abortion for all women in the UK by extending 1967 Abortion Act to Northern Ireland’. Press release, Voice for Choice, 23 July 2008

Voice for Choice provides the following summary of the current position in Northern Ireland:

Women in NI are not entitled to the same funded NHS care for abortion as other tax payers. Women in Northern Ireland have fewer rights to abortion than women living in Italy or the Republic of Ireland. They are still subject to the 1861 Offences against the Person Act as NI was excluded from the 1967 Abortion Act.
The status quo violates Northern Irish womens’ rights as UK citizens under the European Convention on Human Rights, the Convention on Ending all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Women in NI do not have the same reproductive and abortion rights that the UK government advocates for women in developing countries, and funds, in the interests of safe motherhood and family planning.
A woman who is raped or a victim of incest or both, or carrying a fetus with major congenital abnormalities is not entitled to an abortion in Northern Ireland. They are expected to continue the pregnancy and give birth
The only grounds for a legal abortion in Northern Ireland are where ‘there is a threat to the life of the woman, or a risk of real and serious harm to her long-term or permanent health (physical or mental)’. 60-80 abortions are performed in Northern Ireland each year on this basis.
Department of Health statistics show that in 2007 alone, 1,343 Northern Irish women travelled to England and Wales for a private abortion. Since the 1967 Abortion Act, official data show that almost 50,000 women have travelled from Northern Ireland to England and Wales to access abortion.
NI women are not entitled to NHS funding for abortion, so must find at short notice up to £2,000 to pay for travel, accommodation and the cost of abortion. Only better-off women can afford this, adding to the inequity of access to healthcare for poorer, more vulnerable women. No help is available for young women, less wealthy women, unsupported, socially excluded women, learning disabled women, women with uncertain residency status in this respect.
There have been recorded deaths of women from illegal back-street abortion in Northern Ireland.
Abortion is not a devolved matter to Scotland, but, exceptionally, is proposed to be devolved to Northern Ireland when they take responsibility for the criminal law in future. Northern Ireland MPs in Westminster voted in May 2008 to reduce the upper time limit for abortions to 12 weeks in England, Scotland and Wales. Abortion is a free vote issue in the Commons at every stage of the HFE Bill.