Northern Ireland – Retired pastor denies illegal protest at abortion safe access zone in Coleraine

Clive Johnston disputes the charges on a devolution point and under the European Convention on Human Rights

Paul Higgins
Fri Mar 21 2025

A retired church pastor on Friday denied conducting an illegal protest at an abortion safe access zone in a Coleraine hospital.

Appearing on behalf of Clive Johnston at Coleraine Magistrates Court, defence counsel Aaron Thompson entered pleas of not guilty to the two charges on behalf of the 76-year-old retired pastor, revealing that the defendant disputes the charges on a devolution point and under article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/courts/2025/03/21/retired-pastor-denies-illegal-protest-at-abortion-safe-access-zone-in-coleraine/

Department of Health reveals the number of abortions carried out in Northern Ireland in the last year

Lauren Harte
Sat 1 February 2025

The Department of Health has released new figures detailing the number of abortions carried out in Northern Ireland in the last year.

During 2023/24 there were 2,792 abortions carried out in Northern Ireland, an increase of 28.8% from 2,168 in 2022/23. The majority of these abortions were medical, with only 198 surgical abortions performed.

Continued: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/department-health-reveals-number-abortions-220053081.html

01.02.2025

News

abortion numbers in Northern Ireland

Increase in number of abortions in NI

June 20, 2024

There has been an increase in the number of abortions carried out in Northern Ireland, according to the latest official figures.

Statistics from the Department of Health show that in the year since March 2020, when the law was changed to allow terminations, there were almost 1,600 procedures.

That figure then rose to more than 2,100 between April 2022 and March 2023.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1ddvg0nykko

20.06.2024

Siege days are over: how Northern Ireland came to lead the UK on abortion

The chilling atmosphere of pickets and protests at clinics has given way to a new ‘gold standard’ of care

Rory Carroll, Ireland correspondent
Thu 21 Mar 2024

The family planning advisers at Shaftesbury Square still remember the days of siege when anti-abortion protesters staked out the front and rear entrance of their office in central Belfast.

Some pickets would splash holy water on the doors and daub salt crosses on the pavement while others would thrust leaflets with pictures of babies and foetuses at woman entering or leaving the building, and sometimes follow them.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/21/how-northern-ireland-came-to-lead-the-uk-on-abortion

Northern Ireland’s Abortion Law: An Outdated Norm or a Necessary Protection?

Mason Walker
24 Feb 2024

The Conviction of a 21-year-old Woman
In a tragic turn of events, a 21-year-old woman in Northern Ireland has been convicted for terminating her pregnancy using abortion pills. This conviction makes her the first person to be convicted for illegal abortion in at least a decade. The woman pleaded guilty to 'unlawful procurement of miscarriage' under the Offences Against the Person Act of 1861 and was sentenced to a three-month jail term, suspended for two years.

The Desperate Dilemma of Unwanted Pregnancies

This case brings to the forefront the desperate dilemma faced by women with unwanted pregnancies in Northern Ireland. Legal abortion is limited, forcing many women to resort to dangerous methods such as drinking bleach or throwing themselves down stairs. It is also common for women to travel all the way to England for a termination.

Continued: https://medriva.com/health/northern-irelands-abortion-law-an-outdated-norm-or-a-necessary-protection

24.02.2024

Opinion

1967 Abortion Act

abortion pills

Offences Against the Person Act 1861

prosecuting women for abortion

unlawful procurement of miscarriage

N. Ireland – Blair told Mowlam to put abortion law reform ‘on ice’ 20 years before it was legalised in North

Prime minister’s private secretary wrote that Blair ‘sees little scope for bi-communal support for a change to the law’

Seanín Graham
Thu Dec 28 2023

Twenty years before abortion was legalised in Northern Ireland, British prime minister Tony Blair ordered Northern secretary Mo Mowlam to put her planned review of the restrictive law on terminations “on ice”.

The Downing Street correspondence is contained in previously confidential files released this week in which Blair’s private secretary wrote that the “Prime Minister… sees little scope for bi-communal support for a change to the law and sees little advantage in embarking on a review.”

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/history/2023/12/28/blair-told-mowlam-to-put-abortion-law-reform-on-ice-20-years-before-it-was-legalised-in-north/

N. Ireland – Abortion: PSNI investigate safe access zone protest law breaches

18th December 2023
By Elaine McGee, BBC News NI

The police are investigating up to 50 potential breaches of laws providing safe access zones (SAZs) outside abortion clinics in Northern Ireland. The zones came into effect in September at eight clinics in Northern Ireland.

More incidents were reported at Causeway Hospital in Coleraine than any other site, police figures show. That has prompted pro-choice campaigners and some local politicians to call for the zones to be extended by up to 250m (820ft).

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-67749785

Abortion Pills Go Global

Regardless of the law, women can now access their own safe and effective abortion procedures in the form of these pills.

November 10, 2023

After Ohio’s recent vote to enshrine the right to have an abortion into the state’s constitution, host Robert Scheer dives deeper into one of the underappreciated and underreported aspects of the fight for abortion rights on this episode of the Scheer Intelligence podcast.

Sydney Calkin, a senior lecturer in the School of Geography at Queen Mary University of London, discusses her newest book, “Abortion Pills Go Global: Reproductive Freedom Across Borders,” and breaks down the myths and misconceptions about one of the biggest tools for bringing women’s reproductive rights to the forefront.

Continued: https://scheerpost.com/2023/11/10/abortion-pills-go-global/

N. Ireland – Abortion: Two arrests under new protest buffer zone law

Oct 4, 2023
By Maria McCann, BBC News NI north-east reporter

Two people have been arrested at an anti-abortion protest outside the Causeway Hospital near Coleraine, County Londonderry.

The man and woman allegedly refused to leave the established safe access zone on Tuesday morning, police said.

New legislation came into effect last week to stop protestors gathering directly outside health settings where abortions take place.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-67007413

04.10.2023

News

Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act (Northern Ireland) 2023

anti-choice protesters

‘This is not the endgame’: abortion clinic buffer zones come into effect in Northern Ireland

‘I’ve been spat on, I’ve been abused,’ says former Green Party leader Clare Bailey, who used to volunteer at a private Belfast clinic

Seanín Graham
Sat Sep 30 2023

On one of Belfast’s busiest streets, Clare Bailey is blinking away tears. Looking up at signage attached to a lamp-post around the corner from an NHS clinic providing abortions, she breaks into a smile. Her daughter, Jude, insists on taking her photograph.

It is seven years since Bailey, a former Northern Ireland Green Party leader and Assembly member, tabled a Private Members’ Bill at Stormont calling for the introduction of so-called buffer zones to prevent anti-abortion protests and harassment outside healthcare facilities offering terminations.

Contiuned: https://www.irishtimes.com/health/2023/09/30/this-is-not-the-endgame-abortion-clinic-buffer-zones-comes-into-effect-in-northern-ireland/