Often, activists are the only people who are sure to confide in those seeking help. Claire Hackett, an abortion doula with the Alliance for Choice who lives in a rural area, says many women who come to her for help accessing abortion don`t feel comfortable because of the stigma of sharing their situation with others. When she talks to them, “they are so relieved that they can relieve themselves,” she says. This is tantamount to abortion and murder. In Northern Ireland, the maximum penalty for abortion is life imprisonment. In reality, this rarely happens, but it has done so and will continue to do so as long as the 80-year-old law is in place. In 2020, a total of 371 women were aborted from Northern Ireland to England and Wales: a 2011 MORI survey[152] examined women`s attitudes towards abortion. Northern Ireland`s abortion law was amended by Parliament during a suspension of the Northern Ireland executive between 2017 and 2020. Recommendations on the liberalisation of abortion law in Northern Ireland were published in February 2018 by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in its inquiry report on the UK (under Article 8 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women). [93] The executive was reinstated in January 2020, but abortion legislation continued to be implemented by Westminster. The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 were submitted to Parliament on 25 March 2020 and came into force on 31 March 2020. [96] [97] The regulations permitted abortions in Northern Ireland in the following circumstances: A large majority of abortions in the UK take place in less than 10 weeks of pregnancy. The figures and percentages in England and Wales, Scotland and the UK as a whole in 2020 were as follows.
Information on pregnancy and abortion is not available in Northern Ireland for the same year. On paper, Northern Ireland allows abortion for up to 24 weeks in many circumstances – which is more permissive than in other parts of the UK. In some areas, abortion pills are available up to 10 weeks of pregnancy. The region has performed more than 2,550 abortions since March 2020, according to the Ministry of Health. But women in the western regions do not have access to the pills through the region`s health fund. And women who are more than 10 weeks pregnant still have to travel to England to have an abortion. It was probably not the only time someone had suffered or even died because they had been denied an abortion in Ireland. But the publicity surrounding the case sparked a new wave of activism to repeal the Eighth Amendment. In 2013, the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act was signed, which did not completely repeal the Eighth Amendment, but legalized abortions that would protect the mother`s life. Northern Ireland is part of the UK, so you might assume that abortion is legal there.
This is not the case. In fact, Northern Ireland has some of the most restrictive abortion rules in the Western world. Northern Ireland: The ability to take both abortion pills at home during the Covid-19 crisis is urgently needed March 2020 Shortly after the introduction of the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020, the newly restored Northern Ireland Assembly voted with 46 members in favour and 40 against to “reject the imposition of abortion laws covering all non-fatal disabilities. including Down syndrome.” [60] Following this vote, in February 2021, DUP MP Paul Givan introduced a Severe Fetal Impairment Abortion Grounds Bill (Amendment) to eliminate abortion grounds for non-fatal disabilities. It was considered in December 2021, but MPs decided – by a vote of 45 to 43 – not to present the main proposal of the bill at this stage. [61] Activists know that stigma means there will still be much to do if abortion services are ordered tomorrow. But this is the first step, and they have to say it happening now. “It`s more than a joke that we still don`t have abortion services,” Moore says. “And it really comes from a lack of political will on the part of the Minister of Health to put his personal feelings aside and do his job.” Those who use abortion pills purchased online will not be prosecuted. If you need medical help after they are used, medical professionals are no longer required to report the use of abortion pills by their patients.
Boyd, 40, called a helpline to connect abortion seekers with care, and was told that within five days she would receive a call from a clinic that could offer an early medical abortion. But five days passed without a phone call. Her follow-up calls, asking for direct contact information for the clinic, got her nowhere. As the days turned into weeks, Boyd panicked. Medical abortion, in which two pills are taken, is offered in Northern Ireland until the 10th week of pregnancy, a deadline that was fast approaching. After that, she would have no choice but to travel to England, where abortion is more widespread. In desperation, Boyd contacted the international organization that had sent him abortion pills a few years earlier, while they were still criminalized. But instead of helping, the group asked them to call the same hotline because abortion was now legal in Northern Ireland. Legally – but not accessible.
But not everyone could afford the trip. The third protagonist of the series is Theresa, a mother who desperately tries to save her daughter Orla from an abusive boyfriend and a bleak future. Since Theresa cannot get the money, she illegally orders the abortifacient drug mifepristone online and is arrested weeks later. In Northern Ireland, the total number of redundancies in 2017-2018 was 12, followed by 8 in 2018-2019 and 22 in 2019-2020. [132] [133] As noted above, abortions were permitted most of the time if the act was intended to save the mother`s life or if there was a risk of permanent and serious harm to the mother`s mental or physical health.