The New Way People In Northern Ireland Are Campaigning For Abortion Reform

The New Way People In Northern Ireland Are Campaigning For Abortion Reform

Nick Levine
1 September 2018

The dire need for abortion reform in Northern Ireland has become even more pressing since Ireland's historic vote to overturn its abortion ban in May. Pro-choice campaigners say women in Ulster are now treated as "second-class citizens" next to women in Ireland as well as women in the rest of the UK.

It's not difficult to grasp their point. While women in England will soon be able to take an abortion pill at home, and women in Scotland and Wales already can, women in Northern Ireland still face a life sentence for having an abortion.

Continued; https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/2018/09/208853/pennypost-alliance-for-choice

Trump visit to the UK: How about working together on women’s rights?

Trump visit to the UK: How about working together on women’s rights?
by Katherine Nightingale
12th Jul 2018

When Theresa May welcomes Trump this week it seems like she won’t be short of conversation: there’s the World Cup, Brexit, and NATO before we even start. But with hundreds of thousands of people from all over the UK coming to join the Women’s March this Friday, a clear message is that women’s rights should be on the agenda.

Chances are, time will be short. So if that means there is only one issue Theresa May can champion with Donald Trump, we think it should be to look together at how the UK and US governments could support sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for women and families worldwide, especially in emergencies. So whilst some might think there is no common ground, here is my take on the key messages:

Continued: https://insights.careinternational.org.uk/development-blog/trump-visit-to-the-uk-how-about-working-together-on-women-s-rights

UK – Stella Creasy’s abortion law campaign showed practical politics at its best

Stella Creasy’s abortion law campaign showed practical politics at its best
Courteous, attentive and largely free of partisan posturing, the debate on Northern Ireland’s law was a triumph of cross-party collaboration

Helen Lewis
Sun 10 Jun 2018

The most striking moment in politics last week was not David Davis’s fifth (unfulfilled) threat to resign. Nor was it Boris Johnson’s latest (unpunished) violation of collective responsibility. It wasn’t even the spectacle of hours of intense cabinet psychodrama finally resulting in a customs proposal that was instantly shot down by the EU’s chief negotiator. In Brexitland, a lot happens – but very little changes.

No, the week’s most interesting political event came late on Monday, when the Speaker, John Bercow, asked if he had “the leave of the House” to grant Labour backbencher Stella Creasy an emergency debate on Northern Irish abortion law. In silence, the vast majority of the MPs present in the Commons stood up – and the debate was granted. Supporters of the motion included the new minister for women, Penny Mordaunt, and Karen Bradley, the secretary of state for Northern Ireland.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/10/stella-creasy-abortion-law-campaign-practical-politics-at-its-best

U.K. Court Dismisses Challenge to Northern Ireland Abortion Law

U.K. Court Dismisses Challenge to Northern Ireland Abortion Law

By Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura and Richard Pérez-Peña
June 7, 2018

LONDON — Britain’s Supreme Court on Thursday struck down an attempt to overturn Northern Ireland’s restrictive laws on abortion over a legal technicality, barely two weeks after Ireland voted in a landslide to do away with similar rules.

But in an important caveat, Justice Brenda M. Hale, president of the court, said that a majority of the justices “are of the firm and clear opinion that the current law is incompatible with” the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Britain is a party.

Continued; https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/07/world/europe/uk-northern-ireland-abortion.html

Tory deputy chair attacks MPs over Northern Ireland abortion law

Tory deputy chair attacks MPs over Northern Ireland abortion law
James Cleverly says calls for Westminster to legislate in Northern Ireland are ‘party political game playing’

Jessica Elgot and Peter Walker
Wed 30 May 2018

Conservative party deputy chair James Cleverly has hit out at MPs campaigning for a change in Northern Irish abortion law, accusing Labour of exploiting the issue for party political gain.

Cleverly made his attack despite the fact that at least 13 female Conservative MPs have publicly supported a change to the law in Northern Ireland, which has some of the most restrictive rules on abortion in the world.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/30/tory-deputy-chair-attacks-mps-over-northern-ireland-abortion-law

Ireland Repealed Its Abortion Ban. Is Northern Ireland Next?

Ireland Repealed Its Abortion Ban. Is Northern Ireland Next?
After Dublin voted overwhelmingly to repeal its near-outright abortion ban, pressure is mounting for Belfast to do the same.

Yasmeen Serhan
May 29, 2018

All eyes were on the Republic of Ireland this weekend when it voted resoundingly in favor of repealing its near-total ban on abortion. In the days since, some of that attention has turned to Northern Ireland, where pressure is mounting to change its own restrictive abortion laws.

Though Northern Ireland is a member of the United Kingdom, where abortions are permitted within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy (and later, under exceptional circumstances), U.K. abortion law doesn’t apply in Northern Ireland. This is because the 1967 Abortion Act that legalized abortion access across the U.K. was never enforced in Northern Ireland, which instead adopted abortion laws similar to those of the Republic of Ireland.

Continued: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/05/northern-ireland-abortion-ban/561383/

Pro-choice group plans to offer abortion pills in Northern Ireland tour

Pro-choice group plans to offer abortion pills in Northern Ireland tour

Protest over region’s near-total ban on terminations follows referendum south of border

Henry McDonald in Belfast and agencies
Mon 28 May 2018

Pro-choice activists are planning to distribute abortion pills from a bus touring Northern Ireland this week in protest against the near-total ban on terminations in the region.

The medication is illegal in Northern Ireland which, after the referendum in the Republic on Friday, will soon be the only place in the UK and the island of Ireland where women cannot terminate unwanted pregnancies.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/28/pro-choice-group-plans-to-offer-abortion-pills-in-northern-ireland-tour