"Sent to the mainland": how Northern Irish women suffer under restrictive abortion laws

[Soph0571]

The near-total ban on abortion in Northern Ireland – where the 1967 Abortion Act was never brought into law – means that women can face up to life in prison if they are found to have procured pills or services to abort.

Grainne Teggart, Northern Ireland Campaigns Manager of Amnesty UK says now is the time for change: “All eyes are on the UK government. They now have a decision to make – they can either remain complicit in the harm and suffering caused by our restrictive laws or they can legislate for much-needed and overdue reform which must include the decriminalisation of abortion.

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“The UK government cannot continue to sustain this inequity. We are not second-class citizens and we will not accept being left behind in this tiny corner of the UK and Ireland having our bodies governed by a piece of law which pre-dates the lightbulb.”

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2018/05/northern-ireland-abortion-laws-women

Nothing is going to change...while the religious right hold their grip on power the women of Northern Ireland will continue to be denied reproductive justice. I was listening to a debate on this on bbc ni the other day and they are not open to reason, they lack any empathy for women in crisis pregnancies and they have a complete and utter inability to perspective take.

[TimeSnowDemos]

1. True

The North is not about to change any time soon.

[JNelson6563]

2. Maybe it's time for reunification.

If Britain's going to treat NI like shit, NI should leave and rejoin the rest of Ireland.

[Denzil_DC]

3. Another side-effect of May's reliance on the DUP for her fragile majority.

If not for that, I reckon reform would come relatively quickly:

Ireland abortion referendum: UK minister hopes for NI law change

A landslide vote in favour of overturning Ireland's abortion ban gives "hope" to Northern Ireland, UK minister Penny Mordaunt has said.

The referendum result has sparked calls for the issue to be reassessed in Northern Ireland, where laws are much stricter than the rest of the UK.

But Democratic Unionist MP Ian Paisley said it "should not be bullied into accepting abortion on demand".

...

After early results suggested a landslide, women and equalities minister Ms Mordaunt tweeted that it was a "historic" day for Ireland and a "hopeful" day for Northern Ireland, adding "that hope must be met".

Link to tweet

Penny Mordaunt MP
✔
@PennyMordaunt

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

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44266135

[3Hotdogs]

4. Meanwhile, the U.S. gets dragged, kicking and screaming into the 19th century so we can make Jesus

happy and 'merica great again.