My Childhood Under Northern Ireland’s Abortion Ban

Where do its consequences begin and end?

By Rachel Connolly
Oct 6, 2022

There is a leaflet I remember reading compulsively when I was in primary school. I would have been 8 or 9 years old and got it from one of the booths set up by anti-choice protesters who would often gather in town. The text was neon pink and printed on silky black paper, design choices that made the content seem sensational, even pornographic. Across one corner there was an image of a tiny human body blurred by a glowing outline. The religious imagery I grew up with was full of saints portrayed similarly.

That leaflet lived in my pocket for a while. I unfolded and refolded it until the shininess faded and it was quartered with thick, white veins. I only vaguely remember what it said, the usual gory myths about infertility and vacuums and the capacity a fetus has to feel pain, always using the word baby instead of fetus. The feelings it evoked I recall much more clearly: revulsion, shock, and fascination.

Continued: https://www.thecut.com/2022/10/childhood-abortion-ban-ireland.html


Northern Ireland bill banning some anti-abortion protests challenged

By Jayne McCormack, BBC News NI political correspondent
July 19, 2022

Legislation to ban anti-abortion protests at health settings in Northern Ireland will not "go back to square one", the Supreme Court has been told.

In March, the Stormont Assembly voted for a bill to place "buffer zones" outside abortion clinics.

It is being challenged by NI's attorney general, Dame Brenda King.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-62212011


Abortion: DUP bill to stop terminations for non-fatal disabilities rejected

By Jayne McCormack, BBC News NI political correspondent
Dec 14, 2021

A DUP bill to prevent abortions in Northern Ireland in cases of non-fatal disabilities has effectively fallen after a tight vote at Stormont.

Assembly members (MLAs) voted by 45 to 42 to reject the principles of the bill after its consideration stage debate.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-59660274


Sinn Féin welcomes call for progress on Northern Ireland abortion services

DUP and Ulster Unionist opposition to 2019 legislation is ‘shameful and disgraceful’, says Michelle O’Neill

Lisa O'Carroll
Thu 28 Oct 2021

Sinn Féin has welcomed a demand by the British government for progress on the introduction of abortion services in Northern Ireland, as the party denounced Democratic Unionist opposition to the provisions as “shameful and disgraceful”.

Northern Ireland’s deputy first minister, Michelle O’Neill, accused the DUP and the Ulster Unionist party of trying to reverse legislation imposed by Westminster in 2019, which provided for terminations in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/oct/28/sinn-fein-welcomes-mps-call-for-progress-on-northern-ireland-abortion-services


Abortion protests take place in Belfast amid deepening political row

Pro-choice councillor says any move to block rollout of services is ‘against democracy’

July 31, 2021

Pro-choice and anti-abortion campaigners have held separate protests in Belfast amid the deepening political row over the commissioning of abortion services in Northern Ireland.

The small-scale demonstrations in the city centre came after DUP First Minister Paul Givan threatened to block the British government’s move to formally direct Stormont to fully roll out abortion services in the region.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/abortion-protests-take-place-in-belfast-amid-deepening-political-row-1.4636154


Britain orders Northern Ireland to introduce full abortion services

‘This stalemate leaves me no choice,’ UK Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis tells Belfast leaders.

by SHAWN POGATCHNIK
July 22, 2021

The British government has ordered Northern Ireland’s coalition government to introduce full-fledged abortion services, more than a year after legislation passed in Westminster required this to happen.

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis issued the order Thursday directing the U.K. region’s Department of Health and Health Minister Robin Swann to make Northern Ireland compliant with British abortion law.

Continued: https://www.politico.eu/article/britain-orders-northern-ireland-to-introduce-full-abortion-services/


Abortion in NI: Westminster directs Stormont to set up services

By Jayne McCormack, BBC News NI political correspondent
July 22, 2021

Westminster has directed Stormont's Department of Health to set up full abortion services in Northern Ireland by no later than next March.

The government has intervened with a formal direction requiring Stormont to act.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-57921537


The Reality of Abortion in Northern Ireland

Consistent vetoes have blocked the power-sharing government from passing abortion reform in Northern Ireland.

By Julia Canney
Jun 18, 2021

In April, the UK House of Commons formally approved a new directive requiring Northern Ireland’s Department of Health to take “concrete steps” to ensure full abortion services in the north before summer. The directive, which came after years of pressure from inside and outside the north, is the result of the Northern Ireland executive’s delay in commissioning services that were formally decriminalized in 2019.

It is time for Northern Ireland’s secretary of state, Brandon Lewis, to ensure that reproductive rights in the north are safe, legal and accessible to all who need them. The complicated politics of Northern Ireland have led to this dilemma of jurisdiction. The House of Commons was able to decriminalize abortion services in the north specifically because there was no sitting Northern Ireland executive in Stormont. However, now that there has been a sitting government in Stormont for over a year, many are calling for an end to the executive’s stall tactics.

Continued: https://www.fairobserver.com/region/europe/julia-canney-northern-ireland-abortion-rights-ireland-news-irish-abortion-news-23840/


BBC’s ‘Three Families’ Shows How the Fight For Abortion Rights in the UK Continues

Sian Norris
14 May 2021

The BBC drama
Three Families told the story of the fight to decriminalise abortion in
Northern Ireland from the perspectives of three women, all based on real-life
stories.

The first focused on a mother who faced criminal prosecution for purchasing
abortion pills online for her 15-year-old daughter who was in an abusive
relationship. The second followed a woman whose baby had a fatal foetal
abnormality but was still forced to carry it to term. The final woman’s baby
also had a fatal foetal abnormality. She died in the womb and the mother was
induced.

Continued: https://bylinetimes.com/2021/05/14/bbcs-three-families-misses-the-point-that-fight-for-abortion-rights-in-the-uk-continues/


Abortion: London wants ‘concrete steps’ towards NI services by summer

Apr 26, 2021

The Department of Health must take "concrete steps" towards commissioning full abortion services in NI before the summer, a government minister has said.

Robin Walker said the secretary of state stands ready to act if significant progress is not made.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-56893295