Abortion referendum likely to put pressure on Northern Ireland politicians

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/26/abortion-referendum-likely-to-put-pressure-on-northern-ireland-politicians

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The predicted landslide in favour of liberalising Ireland’s abortion regime, assuming it is borne out in the referendum results, will put pressure on politicians in Northern Ireland to review its highly restrictive laws.

If repeal of the eighth amendment is confirmed and followed by legislation to permit abortion on request up to the 12th week of pregnancy, Northern Ireland will be the only place in the UK and Ireland – and most of Europe – where terminations are outlawed bar in the most exceptional circumstances.

UK politicians acknowledged that Northern Ireland would come under the spotlight as exit polls released their predictions.

Penny Mordaunt, the international development secretary who also holds the equality brief, tweeted:

Based on the exit poll, a historic & great day for Ireland, & a hopeful one for Northern Ireland. That hope must be met. #HomeToVote stories are a powerful and moving testimony as to why this had to happen and that understanding & empathy exists between generations. #trustwomen

Owen Smith, the former shadow Northern Ireland secretary, tweeted:

Wonderful news, if true. And a powerful message to Northern Ireland. We need change across the whole island of Ireland. https://t.co/VTTdPmlUDj

And Naomi Long, the leader of Northern Ireland’s Alliance party. tweeted:

If exit polls are right this is an incredible result for #together4yes #repealthe8thEyes will now turn to us: yet again a place apart. Behind GB. Behind Ireland.Thoughts with @MrsEtoB & others still waiting change here. #trustNIwomentoohttps://t.co/mTZ8MSXmC5

The expected result of Ireland’s referendum also raises the prospect of Northern Irish women needing an abortion making a considerably easier journey south for the procedure.

In 2016 more than 700 women from Northern Ireland crossed the Irish Sea to clinics in Britain to terminate pregnancies.

Earlier this year, Marie Stopes clinics said they had conducted 363 terminations for Northern Irish women in England between 30 June 2017 and 28 February this year, while the British Pregnancy Advisory Service carried out 190.

Colm O’Gorman, of Amnesty International Ireland, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Almost three-quarters of people in Northern Ireland want to see significantly expanded access to abortion. It’s entirely unacceptable that women and girls still have to travel ... for abortions.”

The 1967 Abortion Act was never extended to Northern Ireland, and abortion remains illegal unless the life or mental health of the mother is at risk. Northern Ireland has the harshest criminal penalty for abortion anywhere in Europe; in theory, life imprisonment can be handed down to a woman undergoing an unlawful abortion.

Most politicians in Northern Ireland do not favour reform on abortion. The issue crosses traditional divides, with support for the current highly restrictive regime among both Catholic and Protestant politicians.

In February, the UN said the UK was violating the rights of women in Northern Ireland by restricting their access to abortion, exposing them to “horrific situations”.

Its committee on the elimination of discrimination against women said thousands of women and girls in Northern Ireland faced “systematic violations of rights through being compelled to either travel outside Northern Ireland to procure a legal abortion or to carry their pregnancy to term”.

Last month, Belfast city council passed a motion condemning the arrest and attempted prosecution of women in Northern Ireland who procure abortion pills online.

The motion denounced cases such as the one involving a mother who obtained abortion pills for her 15-year-old daughter after her child was raped. The mother is facing prosecution.

Northern Ireland is also the only place in the UK and Ireland that has not legislated to allow same-sex marriages. Campaigners for LGBT and gender rights are expected to step up campaigns for change in the coming months.