Support the right to abortion in Ireland

A selected collection of web resources

Sunday 27 July 2008 by siawi

A video letter addressed to the members of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to support access to safe and legal abortion in Ireland. April, 2008, Made by Safe and Legal in Ireland Abortion Rights Campaign

A right to choose? Not in Northern Ireland

It is shocking that women there are still denied free abortions: our amendment to the embryology bill can right this wrong

by Diane Abbott

(Published in: The Guardian, July 23, 2008)

Many people do not realise that the 1967 Abortion Act never applied to Northern Ireland. When it comes to the right to choose, women in Northern Ireland are second-class citizens. They are denied the NHS treatment and funding for abortion that is permitted to every other woman in the United Kingdom. So, since 1967, over 50,000 of these women have been forced to travel to England and pay for an abortion privately. Surveys reveal that most of those women would have preferred to have the operation at home in Northern Ireland, but they feel that they have no choice. Dr Audrey Simpson, director of the Family Planning Association Northern Ireland says:

A Northern Irish woman in the 21st 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.

But, in many ways, the women who travel to England are the lucky ones. Most working-class women must take their chances with the backstreet abortionist.

So, in order to end this injustice, a group of MPs of all parties have come together to table an amendment to the human fertilisation and embryology bill that is currently going through parliament. Our amendment will finally extend the 1967 act to Northern Ireland. We have the support of the British Medical Association, the Family Planning Association, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and many others. Marge Berer, chairwoman of the lobby group Voice for Choice says: "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."

It has taken over 40 years to extend justice and equality to the women of Northern Ireland on this issue. There is no rational case for this unfairness. We hope that in the autumn, when parliament debates our new clause, fellow MPs will take the opportunity to right a wrong that has gone on for too long.

(This article was published on guardian.co.uk, July 23 2008.)

Links to groups campaigning for the choice to safe and legal abortion in Ireland:

Logo of Voice for Choice, UK