ANTI-ABORTION IN NORTHERN IRELAND - A HUMAN RIOTS VIOLATION

By Issy Viviano

Despite being a part of the UK, abortion is illegal in Northern Ireland in almost every circumstance, including when the pregnancy is a result of rape or of incest, or when the foetus has a fatal abnormality that would not allow it to survive outside of the womb.

In England, Wales and Scotland, laws that criminalised abortion were changed by the 1967 Abortion Act, however this Act was never extended to Northern Ireland, which means that women need to leave to go to the mainland to access this basic healthcare. Currently, a termination is only permitted in Northern Ireland if a woman's life is at risk or if there is a risk of permanent and serious damage to her mental or physical health.

However, on October 3, a High Court in Belfast ruled that the current abortion law was a breach of the UK’s commitment to Human Rights.

The case was brought to court by Sarah Ewart who said: "Today's ruling is a vindication of all those women who have fought tirelessly to ensure that we never again have to go through what I did in 2013."

In 2013, Sarah Ewart was told she could not have a legal abortion, despite doctors saying her foetus would not survive outside the womb as it had a rare condition called anencephaly. However, as there was no risk to her own life, she was told she would have to continue with the pregnancy until miscarriage. "The baby wasn't going to survive - the minute the umbilical cord was cut, the baby would have passed away.... I felt I couldn't continue on for nine months...I couldn't go through with it," Sarah said. She travelled to England for a termination and later spoke to the media about the additional trauma and expense that journey had caused her family.

At the same time this high-profile case was underway, Westminster voted for legislation which requires the government to liberalise abortion and extend same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland if government is not restored by 21 October. A year ago, an Amnesty International poll said two-thirds of people in Northern Ireland felt it was time MPs in Westminster changed the abortion laws, given there was no government in Northern Ireland. That poll also suggested that 65% of people thought that having an abortion should not be a crime.

On 22nd October, the fight for abortion rights took a momentous step as abortion was decriminalised in England. Now the process for making the procedure readily available begins.

Access to abortion is a women’s health and human rights issue, and as such should be regulated like any other medical care and not by criminal law. Given what has happened in Northern Ireland, the signs for change in other parts of the world looks hopeful.