Give religious reps a vote on education committees, Scottish bishop urges

London, England, Jan 29, 2019 / 05:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Attempts to liberalize access to abortion in Northern Ireland continue, shortly after legal abortion was introduced in the Republic of Ireland, with both legislation in Westminster and a legal challenge.

Abortion is legally permitted in Northern Ireland only if the mother’s life is at risk or if there is risk of permanent, serious damage to her mental or physical health. Elective abortion is legal in the rest of the United Kingdom up to 24 weeks.

British prime minister Theresa May has said abortion should be a devolved issue for Northern Ireland, but the Northern Ireland Assembly is currently suspended due to disagreements between the two major governing parties.

Last week, one member of the British parliament wanted to add an amendment promoting abortion reform in Northern Ireland to a bill meant to curb domestic violence.

Labour and Co-operative MP Stella Creasy intended to put forward an amendment to the draft Domestic Abuse Bill which would give the British parliament jurisdiction over abortion laws throughout the United Kingdom, The Sunday Times reported Jan. 27. However, the bill’s scope was restricted by the government, blocking the amendment.

The Democratic Unionist Party, the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and a member of the coalition government in Westminster, is opposed to changing the region’s abortion law.

Separately, a Belfast woman plans to bring forward a personal challenge to Northern Ireland’s abortion law to court this week.

Sarah Ewart, who is backed by Amnesty International, traveled to England in 2013 for an abortion after her doctors reportedly told her that her baby would not survive outside of the womb. She has previously campaigned to change the law to allow for abortion in cases of “fatal fetal abnormality.”

In June 2018, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission challenged the region’s abortion laws in the UK Supreme Court. While the Supreme Court concluded that Northern Ireland’s abortion laws violated human rights law by banning abortion in cases of fatal fetal abnormality, rape, and incest, it threw out the case saying it had not been brought forward by a person who had been wrongfully harmed by the law.

Ewart’s challenge to the abortion law before the court is expected to last three days.

Northern Ireland’s abortion law has been under increased pressured in recent years. Since abortion became legal in the Republic, calls for “the north is next” and “now for Northern Ireland” have increased.

In October 2018, the British parliament passed a bill requiring the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to provide guidance to civil servants on how to exercise their functions regarding human rights.

Under the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Act 2018, Karen Bradley, the Northern Ireland Secretary, is to guide Northern Irish officials on how to exercise their functions in light of what the UK Supreme Court said in June regarding the region’s abortion law.

Debate over the bill in the House of Lords focused on the importance of devolution.

Creasy had introduced an amendment to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Act 2018 in the House of Commons to repeal Northern Irish law on abortion and gay marriage, which was defeated.

Since November 2017, Northern Irish women have been able to procure free National Health Service abortions in England, Scotland, and Wales.

Bills to legalize abortion in cases of fatal fetal abnormality, rape, or incest failed in the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2016.

[…]

CNA Staff, Jul 24, 2020 / 05:19 pm (CNA).- A Spanish bishop recently celebrated Mass in the church where St. Junipero Serra was baptized, defending the saint’s legacy against those who have accused him of racism.

Bishop Sebastià Taltavull… […]

Belfast, Northern Ireland, Sep 20, 2018 / 01:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The High Court in Belfast began hearing a challenge Thursday to the decision to prosecute a woman who allegedly procured abortifacient medication five years ago for her daughter, who was 15-years-old at the time.

The hearing is taking place Sept. 20-21, and a ruling is expected in the coming months.

Abortion is legally permitted in Northern Ireland only if the mother’s life is at risk or if there is risk of permanent, serious damage to her mental or physical health. Abortion pills are illegal in Northern Ireland.

Seanin Graham wrote in the Irish News that the woman “faces two charges of unlawfully procuring and supplying the pills with intent to cause a miscarriage” under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.

The pills were purchased online in July 2013.

Elective abortion is legal in the rest of the United Kingdom up to 24 weeks, and Northern Irish women have been able to procure free National Health Service abortions in England, Scotland, and Wales since November 2017.

If she is is successfully prosecuted, the woman could face imprisonment. But another Belfast woman who was prosecuted for buying abortion pills online and procuring an abortion thereby was given a three-month suspended sentence in April 2016.

She is being supported in her challenge by Amnesty International, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, the Family Planning Association, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, and the Abortion Support Network.

Grainne Teggart, an Amnesty International spokesperson, said the case “is a direct challenge to the criminalisation of women and abortion in Northern Ireland.”

A pro-life spokesperson, Bernie Smyth of Precious Life, countered that Northern Irish women are already provided “all genuine medical treatment”, and pointed out that the Northern Ireland Assembly has voted against “any change to our pro-life laws”.

Bills to legalize abortion in cases of fatal fetal abnormality, rape, or incest failed in the assembly in 2016.

The woman’s legal challenge is one of several efforts to relax Northern Ireland’s abortion laws.

The UK Supreme Court threw out a case challenging Northern Ireland’s abortion law in June 2018, saying the commission which brought the case does not have standing to do so. However, the judges also said the current law violates the European Convention on Human Rights.

Lord Mance, delivering the judgement June 7, said that had the commission the competence to bring the challenge, “I would have concluded … that the current Northern Ireland law is incompatible with article 8 of the [European human rights] convention insofar as it prohibits abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormality, rape and incest but not insofar as it prohibits abortion in cases of serious foetal abnormality.”

Four of the seven judges agreed that Northern Ireland abortion law is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights in cases of fatal fetal abnormality, rape, and incest. A fifth agreed it is incompatible only in cases of fatal fetal abnormality.

But the court unanimously agreed that banning the abortion of unborn children with serious, but not fatal, abnormalities is compatible with the ECHR.

Yet Les Allamby, chief commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, who is supporting the woman’s legal challenge to her prosecution, called the case an “extremely important case; it is the first time that local courts will be able to consider how our laws criminalise termination of pregnancy since the Commission’s Supreme Court judgement in June.”

He said the Supreme Court had “outlined that Northern Ireland’s laws on termination of pregnancy are contrary to human rights standards,” and argued that “the court in Belfast should follow the judgement of the Supreme Court when coming to its decision in this case.”

“Women and girls continue to face being criminalised in what should be solely a healthcare matter,” Allamby claimed. “We are supportive of the growing public and parliamentary momentum calling for change on this issue.”

Northern Ireland’s abortion law could be taken up by either the Northern Ireland Assembly or the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The Northern Ireland Assembly is currently suspended. The Democratic Unionist Party, the largest party, is opposed to changing the law. Sinn Féin, another prominent party in Northern Ireland, backs a liberalization of the abortion law.

British prime minister Theresa May has said abortion should be a devolved issue for Northern Ireland. But Labour MP Diana Johnson is expected to introduce next month into the British Parliament a bill to decriminalize abortion in Northern Ireland.

[…]