UK Wedding News
26/02/2015
The organisation made the comments as it published a new report on the issue.
Currently, NI has the strictest abortion laws in the UK. Terminations are only permitted in the country in specific circumstances – if the mother's life is at risk, or there is a risk of serious or permanent damage to her mental or physical health.
However, the report has said the "restrictive" laws are a "significant breach of the UK's international human rights obligations". It added that due to harsh criminal penalties, as well as a lack of guidance from the Department of Health, medical professionals are afraid to provide lawful abortions.
As a result, Amnesty has said this leads to a "postcode lottery" for women who are looking for abortion advice or services in NI. In turn, this has left women in certain health trust areas – including western and rural areas – unable to access the necessary services.
Grainne Teggart, a campaigner for Amnesty International Northern Ireland, said: "Northern Ireland's draconian abortion law is the harshest in Europe. That grim distinction should be a wake-up call to politicians. The shameful lack of political action on this key issue has helped to create a climate of fear for medical professionals.
"Hundreds of women are forced to leave Northern Ireland every year just to access health care to which they should be entitled. That only adds to the trauma the women experience.
"Northern Ireland's politicians have shirked their responsibilities to women's health for too long. The Department of Health needs to fulfil its duties to women and girls in Northern Ireland by publishing proper guidance for its frontline staff, while the Assembly must act without further delay to reform abortion law."
Dawn Purvis, Programme Director for Marie Stopes Northern Ireland, added: "The Northern Ireland Assembly forces any woman who is pregnant as a result of rape or incest and wants an abortion to continue with that pregnancy against her will. This is degrading and inhumane treatment.
"Politicians have the power to change this situation and to prove to women that they do care about them, they do value them as equal citizens and they trust them to make choices that are right for them.
"Until that happens women in Northern Ireland will continue to remain second-class citizens in the United Kingdom."
The view was also supported by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS).
Donagh Stenson, from BPAS, said that since 1970, 59,614 women had travelled from Northern Ireland to England to seek abortion care.
"No politician in a civilised country should force a woman to leave her family and loved ones to make a journey to another jurisdiction for abortion treatment. Taking the decision to end a pregnancy is journey enough for any woman," she concluded.
Within the report, the law governing abortion in Northern Ireland was found, in both law and practice, to be one of the most restrictive in Europe. Only Malta and the Republic of Ireland were found to be more restrictive.
(JP/MH)
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Amnesty International Criticises 'Draconian' Abortion Laws
Amnesty International has criticised Northern Ireland's abortion laws, calling them "draconian" and in "urgent need of reform".The organisation made the comments as it published a new report on the issue.
Currently, NI has the strictest abortion laws in the UK. Terminations are only permitted in the country in specific circumstances – if the mother's life is at risk, or there is a risk of serious or permanent damage to her mental or physical health.
However, the report has said the "restrictive" laws are a "significant breach of the UK's international human rights obligations". It added that due to harsh criminal penalties, as well as a lack of guidance from the Department of Health, medical professionals are afraid to provide lawful abortions.
As a result, Amnesty has said this leads to a "postcode lottery" for women who are looking for abortion advice or services in NI. In turn, this has left women in certain health trust areas – including western and rural areas – unable to access the necessary services.
Grainne Teggart, a campaigner for Amnesty International Northern Ireland, said: "Northern Ireland's draconian abortion law is the harshest in Europe. That grim distinction should be a wake-up call to politicians. The shameful lack of political action on this key issue has helped to create a climate of fear for medical professionals.
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"Hundreds of women are forced to leave Northern Ireland every year just to access health care to which they should be entitled. That only adds to the trauma the women experience.
"Northern Ireland's politicians have shirked their responsibilities to women's health for too long. The Department of Health needs to fulfil its duties to women and girls in Northern Ireland by publishing proper guidance for its frontline staff, while the Assembly must act without further delay to reform abortion law."
Dawn Purvis, Programme Director for Marie Stopes Northern Ireland, added: "The Northern Ireland Assembly forces any woman who is pregnant as a result of rape or incest and wants an abortion to continue with that pregnancy against her will. This is degrading and inhumane treatment.
"Politicians have the power to change this situation and to prove to women that they do care about them, they do value them as equal citizens and they trust them to make choices that are right for them.
"Until that happens women in Northern Ireland will continue to remain second-class citizens in the United Kingdom."
The view was also supported by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS).
Donagh Stenson, from BPAS, said that since 1970, 59,614 women had travelled from Northern Ireland to England to seek abortion care.
"No politician in a civilised country should force a woman to leave her family and loved ones to make a journey to another jurisdiction for abortion treatment. Taking the decision to end a pregnancy is journey enough for any woman," she concluded.
Within the report, the law governing abortion in Northern Ireland was found, in both law and practice, to be one of the most restrictive in Europe. Only Malta and the Republic of Ireland were found to be more restrictive.
(JP/MH)
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