Press releases

MPs back legal abortion for Northern ireland- Voice For Choice press release
23 July 2008 Move to give Northern Irish women full family planning rights MPs seek equal access to abortion for all women in the UK by extending 1967 Abortion Act to Northern Ireland Today a cross-party group of MPs have tabled an amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill intending to give women in Northern Ireland- for the first time- the right to fair and rapid access to safe, legal abortion care when they need it. Currently Northern Irish women are the only women in the UK who do not have access to safe abortion and are denied the NHS treatment and funding for abortion permitted to other UK women. Northern Ireland is not covered by the 1967 Abortion Act. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill is expected to reach report stage in the House of Commons after the summer recess – probably some time from mid-October. MPs will have a free vote on this issue then. Dr Audrey Simpson, Director of fpa (Family Planning Association) Northern Ireland said “A Northern Irish woman in the twenty first century who is the victim of rape or incest is expected to give birth, or find up to £2,000 to travel for treatment in England where women have the right to access safe abortion. These are a vulnerable group of women who need support – not to be forced to find money and travel long distances on their own.” Diane Abbott MP, who has tabled the new clause, said “This fundamental inequity must be remedied. Forty years after the 1967 Act women in Northern Ireland are still facing conditions more reminiscent of the 19th century. All women in the UK must be given fair and rapid access to safe, legal abortion when they need it. The Abortion Act must be extended to include women in Northern Ireland.” Marge Berer, Chair of Voice for Choice the coalition of pro-choice groups in the UK, said: “This is an opportunity for the voices of the women of Northern Ireland to be heard. The UK Parliament must stop ignoring the needs of its own citizens.” The move to end health inequality by giving women in Northern Ireland access to safe, legal abortion is supported by the British Medical Association, fpa¸ British Pregnancy Advisory Service, MSI, Brook, Antenatal Results and Choices, Abortion Rights, Doctors for a Woman’s Choice on Abortion, Education for Choice, the Pro-Choice Forum, the Trade Union Movement and religious groups.

24 weeks
21 May 2008 Education For Choice welcomes the decision by MPs to retain the current 24 week time limit on abortion. Young women are disproportionately represented in the figures for later abortions and the most vulnerable of them would have suffered the most had the time limit been reduced. Education For Choice has consistently argued that younger women will continue to present later in pregnancy until sex and relationships education in schools and youth centres begins properly to address the issue of pregnancy decision-making; to help young women to recognise their pregnancies quickly; to give them the confidence to go and talk to an appropriate professional as soon as possible; and to know who can support them to talk to their parents and carers. Education For Choice Head of Policy and Communication, Lisa Hallgarten says ‘Currently young people are exposed to lots of myths and misinformation about pregnancy and abortion by peers, by some parts of the media, and most shockingly sometimes by their own teachers. It’s hardly surprising that some young women are too scared to seek help until they can no longer conceal their pregnancy. It’s time the Government addressed this problem and supported provision of good quality pregnancy decision-making and abortion education within a statutory Sex and Relationships Curriculum.’