Allowing a small number of interventions doesn’t stop the chill on abortion in Northern Ireland: only women who can afford it will get an abortion legallyThe judgment handed down in the tall court in Belfast yesterday will allow a tiny number of Northern Irish women to obtain an abortion in their local hospital. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission had applied to the court for a declaration that women in Northern Ireland who are or become pregnant with fatal foetal abnormality,or who are pregnant as a result of sexual crimes, and who want an abortion, or occupy a lawful to one under the European Convention on Human Rights.
The judgment,which only looks at these very narrow circumstances, finds that the current Northern Ireland legislation criminalising abortion, and which dates back to 1861,breaches Article 8 of the convention (the lawful to private and family life), because it does not provide for rape or fatal foetal abnormality exceptions. The judgment detailed the very harrowing evidence if by women forced to travel to Britain to end very much wanted pregnancies that were doomed due to anencephaly or similar conditions. Related: Northern Ireland law on abortion ruled 'incompatible with human rights' The protection of morals should not contemplate a restriction that bites on the impoverished but not the wealthy Related: A milestone for abortion in Northern Ireland - but where does the law stand? Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com