This week we could decriminalise abortion and get marriage equality for NI

What is happening?

This week there are two important debates happening in Westminster which could help change the law in Northern Ireland.

On Tuesday Diana Johnston is bringing a 10 Minute Rule Bill calling for the repeal of sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.

On Wednesday Stella Creasy and Conor McGinn have tabled amendments to the Northern Ireland (Executive Function) Bill. These amendments would allow for the decriminalisation of abortion in Northern Ireland, and provision for same sex marriage.

Northern Irish women directly affected by abortion ban tell Westminster to support reform - as MPs launch historic bill

Alliance for Choice, Belfast at the Dublin Rally for Choice, September 29th 2018. Photo: Brendan Harkin

· As a historic bill to decriminalise abortion in Northern Ireland is launched in parliament, women who have been affected by the current ban have appealed to MPs for reform.

· The testimony collected by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, bpas, and Alliance for Choice NI includes women who have been forced to continue pregnancies with no chance of survival to term

· A video released today features a young Northern Irish woman, Emma, 18, telling MPs that abortion “is not a devolved issue” while 28 weeks pregnant with a baby with a fatal foetal anomaly. She was denied an abortion in Northern Ireland and felt unable to travel for treatment in England.

· Other women speak of the difficulties of travelling to England to access care, and one woman from Belfast describes having to wait over three hours in an airport while bleeding.

· Campaigners call on MPs from all parties to “listen to the voices of the women of Northern Ireland” and unite behind moves for reform.

High Profile Abortion Pills Case in High Court Belfast

abortion_pills_4.jpe(mediaclass-base-page-main.d2c518cc99acd7f6b176d3cced63a653791dedb3).jpg — Mother & Daughter abortion pills case

Judicial Review heard in Belfast today

Alliance for Choice, along with a coalition of charities including the Family Planning Association (FPA), the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (bpas), and the Abortion Support Network (ASN) are intervening in support of the mother’s application. We are arguing that a prosecution in these circumstances makes those accessing self-induced abortion with pills unwilling to seek medical advice for fear of prosecution. While abortion medication is safe, there can be side effects; follow-up care in the rare event of serious complications, such as haemorrhage, should be able to be accessed without fearing police involvement.

Alliance for Choice welcome further questions to Minister for Women

The 1861 Offences Against the Persons Act is a piece of Victorian legislation written and enacted in the full throes of British Colonialism. To shirk responsibility for writing this continued wrong against women and pregnant people in Northern Ireland is breath-taking. Westminster had the power to extend the 1967 Abortion Act to Northern Ireland until 2008, then, as now, our bodies have been a bargaining tool for the DUP. Their hold over swing votes in the house has meant we have remained outside of the Union in terms of human rights.

Alliance for Choice have today launched #PENNYPOST

Alliance for Choice have today launched #PENNYPOST - a social media campaign which encourages people in Northern Ireland to write to the Minister for Women and Equalities, Penny Mordaunt, urging her to stand up for the women and pregnant people of Northern Ireland and stop their treatment as second class citizens.

Access to abortion care for Northern Irish confirmed

Alliance for Choice are encouraged by the Irish Health Minister, Simon Harris’s commitment to ensuring that people from Northern Ireland will be able to access abortion services in the Republic.

Can you really be jailed for an abortion in NI?

Image courtesy of Siobhán Clancy http://flatpackfeminism.blogspot.com/

Can you really be jailed for an abortion in Northern Ireland?

CEDAW list of Issues for GB and NI 2018

Today, CEDAW’s 2018 list of issues in relation to the eighth periodic report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, they re-iterate the urgency of the removal of criminal sanctions for abortion seekers. Regarding health they focus entirely on abortion access for Northern Ireland, they request of the State Party (Westminster).