Move to allow abortion in Northern Ireland
- added July 23, 2008
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- JanaPokana
- added this
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MPs are to stage a fresh attempt to make it easier for women in Northern Ireland to have an abortion.
The cross-party group of MPs will attempt to force a vote in the House of Commons by tabling an amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill in the autumn. The amendment to the Bill, which is passing through Parliament, would allow women to have an abortion on the NHS in Northern Ireland, a right they do not have now.
Labour's Diane Abbott said a woman can have an abortion in Northern Ireland only if it can be shown there was evidence of a threat to her life. This was "very strictly defined", she said. It means that every year more than 1,000 women have to pay to have the procedure carried out privately in mainland Britain, usually England.
But the proposal would face stiff opposition from Northern Ireland MPs, the majority of whom are against such a change. There have previously been suggestions that MPs from the Democratic Unionist Party were assured the abortion laws would not be changed.
Ms Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "When it comes to abortion rights, Northern Ireland women are effectively second-class citizens. They don't have the same rights as women in England and Wales and Scotland. They even have fewer rights than women in the Republic of Ireland.
Asked if MPs should vote to change the law when the majority of Northern Ireland MPs were against it, she said: " think it is not unreasonable that the British Parliament should say that all citizens in the British Isles should have the same rights. The effect of the amendment would be to give women in Northern Ireland exactly the same rights to abortion with NHS funding that women elsewhere in Britain have. We think we have got a very good chance of getting the amendment through."
(Excerpts / Ben Padley, Independent)
The cross-party group of MPs will attempt to force a vote in the House of Commons by tabling an amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill in the autumn. The amendment to the Bill, which is passing through Parliament, would allow women to have an abortion on the NHS in Northern Ireland, a right they do not have now.
Labour's Diane Abbott said a woman can have an abortion in Northern Ireland only if it can be shown there was evidence of a threat to her life. This was "very strictly defined", she said. It means that every year more than 1,000 women have to pay to have the procedure carried out privately in mainland Britain, usually England.
But the proposal would face stiff opposition from Northern Ireland MPs, the majority of whom are against such a change. There have previously been suggestions that MPs from the Democratic Unionist Party were assured the abortion laws would not be changed.
Ms Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "When it comes to abortion rights, Northern Ireland women are effectively second-class citizens. They don't have the same rights as women in England and Wales and Scotland. They even have fewer rights than women in the Republic of Ireland.
Asked if MPs should vote to change the law when the majority of Northern Ireland MPs were against it, she said: " think it is not unreasonable that the British Parliament should say that all citizens in the British Isles should have the same rights. The effect of the amendment would be to give women in Northern Ireland exactly the same rights to abortion with NHS funding that women elsewhere in Britain have. We think we have got a very good chance of getting the amendment through."
(Excerpts / Ben Padley, Independent)
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- JanaPokana
- 2 months ago
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hopefully this wont stir the recently calm waters northern ireland has worked hard for.
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Never going to happen.
Do you think the fundamentalist bigoted unionists would allow it?
and Sinn Fein they may be "Left wing" but their people are catholic, much more so than the catholics in the republic are.
I say abortions for some, minature flags for others.-
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- Owwmykneecap
- 2 months ago
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Finally... I hope the bill goes through. Bans on abortions don't belong in this day and age, especially given the lengths and risks women will still go to to obtain abortions. It's a farce, and a dangerous one at that.
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I will be having my say against Abortion at the ballot box in Northern Ireland. The majority of MLA's in Stormount, do not want this abortion act in place.
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