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| Abortion figures prompt fresh calls for reform of Northern Irish law | Abortion figures prompt fresh calls for reform of Northern Irish law |
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| More than 700 women travelled from Northern Ireland to England for an abortion in 2016, obliged to travel because the procedure remains illegal in most circumstances in the region. | |
| Figures released by the Department of Health on Tuesday will attract renewed attention to Northern Ireland’s restrictive abortion legislation as Theresa May holds talks with the leader of the Democratic Unionist party, Arlene Foster, about a deal to allow the Conservatives to govern the UK. | |
| The number of women travelling from Northern Ireland to England for an abortion fell slightly last year to 724, from 833 in 2015. It is thought the use of abortion tablets bought online and supplied by post – a cheaper option than travelling, but also illegal in Northern Ireland – may have increased. | The number of women travelling from Northern Ireland to England for an abortion fell slightly last year to 724, from 833 in 2015. It is thought the use of abortion tablets bought online and supplied by post – a cheaper option than travelling, but also illegal in Northern Ireland – may have increased. |
| Terminations are illegal in Northern Ireland unless a woman’s life is in danger or there is a serious risk to her physical or mental health. The DUP has resisted even moderate attempts to reform the law to allow women who have been raped, for example, to seek terminations. | Terminations are illegal in Northern Ireland unless a woman’s life is in danger or there is a serious risk to her physical or mental health. The DUP has resisted even moderate attempts to reform the law to allow women who have been raped, for example, to seek terminations. |
| Northern Ireland has the harshest criminal penalty for abortion of any country in Europe – up to life imprisonment for both the woman having the procedure and anyone assisting her. | Northern Ireland has the harshest criminal penalty for abortion of any country in Europe – up to life imprisonment for both the woman having the procedure and anyone assisting her. |
| A woman is being prosecuted in Northern Ireland for helping her 15-year-old daughter procure abortion pills online, after a doctor at a clinic where she had sought advice from her GP reported her to the police. Last year a woman was prosecuted for taking abortion pills after her flatmates reported her to the police. | |
| The DUP has indicated that social issues will not be part of their demands in talks with the Tories about a Westminster pact, but on Saturday the Conservative MP and former Northern Ireland secretary Owen Paterson highlighted the possibility that there could be a parliamentary debate on further reduction of abortion time limits in the next few years. Last year, Foster said: “I would not want abortion to be as freely available here as it is in England.” | |
| Amnesty International has called on the UK government to commit to pushing for abortion law reform in Northern Ireland. Grainne Teggart, of Amnesty’s Belfast office, said on Tuesday: “The UK government has a responsibility to deliver abortion rights for women in Northern Ireland. A failure to do so would be a cruel betrayal of women. Whilst health and justice are devolved matters, the UK government is responsible for upholding human rights. | |
| “We are today calling on the next UK government to commit, particularly in the absence of functioning devolution, to prioritise bringing Northern Ireland’s abortion laws in line with international human rights standards. This must include the decriminalisation of abortion.” | “We are today calling on the next UK government to commit, particularly in the absence of functioning devolution, to prioritise bringing Northern Ireland’s abortion laws in line with international human rights standards. This must include the decriminalisation of abortion.” |
| Mara Clarke, the founder of the Abortion Support Network, a charity that gives financial assistance to women from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to travel to England for treatment, said her organisation had seen a 24% increase in calls from women asking for help in the last year, as news of prosecutions created a climate of fear. | Mara Clarke, the founder of the Abortion Support Network, a charity that gives financial assistance to women from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to travel to England for treatment, said her organisation had seen a 24% increase in calls from women asking for help in the last year, as news of prosecutions created a climate of fear. |
| She said the DoH figures did not capture the numbers of women who did not have the money required to travel to England for a termination. | |
| “We’ve heard time and time again from women forced by the despair induced by a combination of poverty and draconian abortion laws who have taken matters into their own hands – by ingesting chemicals, by overdosing on medications, by drinking excessively, by literally throwing themselves down stairs to try and induce miscarriage,” she said. | “We’ve heard time and time again from women forced by the despair induced by a combination of poverty and draconian abortion laws who have taken matters into their own hands – by ingesting chemicals, by overdosing on medications, by drinking excessively, by literally throwing themselves down stairs to try and induce miscarriage,” she said. |
| Natika Halil, the chief executive of the sexual health charity FPA, said the decline in the number of women travelling for an abortion was “likely to mean that more women were unable to travel or afford the cost, and therefore were forced to continue with an unwanted pregnancy or risk prosecution by buying abortion pills online”. | Natika Halil, the chief executive of the sexual health charity FPA, said the decline in the number of women travelling for an abortion was “likely to mean that more women were unable to travel or afford the cost, and therefore were forced to continue with an unwanted pregnancy or risk prosecution by buying abortion pills online”. |
| “FPA believes that the government must legislate for abortion law reform in Northern Ireland. The UK government is responsible for human rights across the UK, and the United Nations and UK courts have ruled on multiple occasions that Northern Ireland’s restrictive law contravenes these rights.” | |
| She said the Conservative party “must use any partnership with the DUP to discuss the impact of Northern Ireland’s abortion law and bring it into the 21st century”. | |
| The DoH figures show there were also declines in the numbers of women travelling from the Isle of Man and the Republic of Ireland to England for abortions. | |
| On Wednesday, the supreme court will rule on whether it is unlawful for the NHS in England to deny free treatment to women from Northern Ireland. They currently have to pay for the procedure because the health secretary has a policy of not funding medical services which would be unlawful if received in Northern Ireland. | |
| The case involves a 15-year-old, known as A, who went to Manchester with her mother, B, and paid £600 for an abortion on top of £300 in travel costs. They are arguing that the NHS treatment should have been free because A is a UK citizen. |