Abortion in Northern Ireland

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Marie-Claire Bradley, a Bristol-based medical student from Northern Ireland, discusses the ongoing issue of abortion in response to debate heard at the BMA's Annual Representative Meeting 2019, subsequent court cases and imminent legislative change.

In June this year, I listened to discussion on the above motion at BMA ARM 2019 in Belfast for the pictured motion which clarifies and sets out a framework for the implementation of BMA’s 2016 policy that abortion should be treated in line with other forms of healthcare and decriminalized across UK and Northern Ireland and policy from 1984, 1985 and 2003 which specifically supports the reform of law in Northern Ireland. The air hung thick, humidity emanating from hot palms and from under stiff collared necks.

Since then, a numberof momentous legal shifts towards the fulfilment of this motion have beenachieved. In July, a majority of MPs backed the bill brought by MP forWalthamstow, Stella Creasy to repeal Sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Againstthe Person Act 1861 - which make abortion a criminal offence in NorthernIreland. As a result, the law governing abortion in Northern Ireland, theOffences Against the Person Act 186, is due to change three days from the timeof writing (on 21st October), if the devolved assembly does notre-convene before then. Interim rules currently govern the care of thoseseeking abortions in the meantime - these rules allow doctors to finally atleast allude to the possibility of treatment in England without fear of legalreprisal. (1)

On 3rdOctober 2019, Sarah Ewart, (who was denied abortion despite scans definitivelyshowing that the foetus was in viable) brought her case before the High Courtin Belfast. The court considered the archaic wording of the 1861 Act - a near-blanketban on abortion, except in cases where continuing the pregnancy would cause‘physical and mental wreak’, as highlighted by Dr Kerr- speaker for the motion andmember of Medical Students for Choice- at ARM. The court ruled that such a banbreaches the UK’s human rights commitments.

Abortion willremain a criminal offence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, although,Northern Ireland is the only place where women and pregnant people facelifetime imprisonment for terminating a pregnancy, even in cases of rape,incest and foetal abnormality, and doctors and medical professionals also facelife imprisonment for assisting. The potential for such a win for human rightsin Northern Ireland is, joyously, a result of local political stalemate andgovernmental disregard for the region.

This departure fromcurrent archaic rules to better represent the will and the needs of NorthernIrish people is particularly welcome in a time of such paralysing politicaluncertainty - The writer notes that the Act came into force 20 years before itwas legally possible for women to own property. (2) At ARM in Belfast, Dr Kerrexplained the influence that the criminalisation of abortion has had uponmedical education - while the procedure affects 1 in 3 women and pregnantpeople, education on the subject across the UK is poor and medical students inNorthern Ireland receive “little to no” training in this regard. Dr Kerrcommented that the unavailability of the procedure leads to “forced pregnancy”which is “an act of violence and assault” and indeed, as Dr John Chisholm, EthicsCommittee Chair, later mentioned, the UN Convention on the Elimination ofDiscrimination Against Women Committee condemned the law on abortion inNorthern Ireland as a “grave violation of rights under the Convention”. DrChisholm, also echoed the words of the proposer of the motion, Dr AnthonyLempert and Dr Noel Sharkey, speaking for the motion, in stipulating, “humanrights are not a devolved issue”.

There was a commonpreoccupation amongst speakers against the motion who feared that any suchlegislative overreach may impact upon the peace in Northern Ireland:-

Speaking against,Dr Dominic Whitehouse opened with the phrase, “peace is precious and fragile”and subsequently brought to the attention of ARM; the lack of an activeassembly at Stormont for two years, the murder of “female journalist reportingon riots in Creggan area of Derry” and “letter bombs being delivered bydissident republicans to London airports and Waterloo station” as evidence thatpeace in Northern Ireland is once again dwindling and implying that theenactment of the legislative changes laid out in the motion would amount to areturn to “colonial rule” and thereby threaten the peace.

The unnamed “femalejournalist” to whom Dr Whitehouse refers is Lyra McKee, her tragic and untimelydeath highlighted the pertinence of her investigative work unpicking thestories of young people left behind by the Peace Process. Lyra McKee activelycampaigned for LGBTQ+ rights, was pro-choice and in favour of thedecriminalisation of abortion.

Dr RachaelPickering, also speaking against the motion, emphasised that being “fromShropshire” meant that the legislative change suggested was “imperialist”. DrPickering told ARM that Northern Ireland is “politically conservative”. Infact, the writer notes that the fifth Northern Ireland Peace Monitoring Report,funded by the Joseph Rowntree Trust, lists the necessity of “reform of abortionlaw and equal marriage” alongside the potential impact of Brexit as issues thatneed to be solved in order to further secure peace in Northern Ireland, citingevidence from the Northern Ireland Life and Times survey and opinion pollswhich show that “the majority of the population in NI support liberalizing thelaw on these issues”. The odd notion that the backdrop of political instabilityin Northern Ireland which was originally caused by Direct Rule should be anexcuse for further denial of human rights in Northern Ireland is somewhatabsurd.

Dr Pickering, anEnglish Representative, was correct in saying that English Representativesprobably shouldn’t dictate the consensus of Northern Irish people. The fifthNorthern Ireland Peace Monitoring Report notes that the views of sociallyconservative political parties in Northern Ireland “are at odds with” the viewof Northern Irish people. (3) Indeed, as Dr Lempert notes, 59% of people inNorthern Ireland have voted in favour of decriminalisation. The consensus of NorthernIrish people is for the motion.

The voice of this much neededNorthern Irish perspective, came when Dr Noel Sharkey spoke in favour for themotion stressing the need for legislative change to ensure that Northern Irishpeople have the same human rights as people in the rest of the UK, emphaticallystating that, “As a gay man I cannot marry my partner.” He explained that thelack of devolved government was not a reason to stall reform of legislation asthe underlying health issues are “becoming more toxic and dangerous” as aresult. Closing the debate, he powerfully stated that, the “Criminal frameworkis not preventative, it simply exports the problem […] it is time to trustwomen. Human rights is not a devolved issue. Instead of giving women inNorthern Ireland air-fares, it is time to give them healthcare.”

Threateninguncertainty surrounding the border in Ireland casts a heavy shadow overeconomic well-being and the maintenance of the hard-won peace in the region andthe right to choose hangs in the balance until Monday when Secretary of State,Julian Smith, will be forced to legalise abortion and same-sex marriage before13 January 2020. Smith’s video tweet on 14th October urged thedevolved executive to sit and discuss the law on abortion before the 21stOctober deadline immediately followed sit down talks between the DUP andCabinet. Accusations ensued from MP Stella Creasy that the right to abortion isbeing used as a “bargaining chip” by the Government in the scramble to bend theDUP over to accept their Brexit deal. Indeed, the next day a subsequentstatement from the DUP called for Stormont to sit once again to “oppose theextreme liberalisation” of the law.

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