Legalise abortion in Northern Ireland

[muriel_volestrangler]

The 'pro-life' alliance is backed by a coalition of Democratic Unionists, Protestant evangelicals and the Catholic Church, but with the exception of the Progressive Unionists and the Alliance party's Anna Lo, the other main Assembly parties are also opposed to extending the 1967 act to Northern Ireland.

Yet women, many of them desperately poor, some the victims of rape and abuse, will still take the boat and plane to Britain to terminate their pregnancies, often at great financial as well as personal and emotional cost.
...
A smaller minority will actually be offered terminations within Northern Ireland hospitals; that is those women whose lives would be in immediate mortal danger if their pregnancy went ahead. This leaves frontline medical staff, notably the midwives, in a precarious legal position. The Royal College of Midwives has warned that its members in Northern Ireland could face prosecution under 19th-century laws that still apply there unless either the 1967 act is extended or local health minister Michael McGimpsey lays down clear guidelines to protect health workers.

A group of Labour MPs is trying to end this anomaly and give Northern Ireland women the same freedom to choose as their counterparts in Britain. However, in this newspaper today a small, courageous band of pro-choice public figures in Northern Ireland claim that Downing Street is prepared to yield to the anti-abortion lobby, and use parliamentary chicanery to push any motion aimed at extending the '67 act so far down the agenda that it will disappear.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/19/legalise-abortion-northernireland-labour

The article referred to:

'Last chance' to legalise abortions in Northern Ireland

Pro-choice campaigners warned last night that a parliamentary bill aimed at extending the 1967 Abortion Act to Northern Ireland offers the last chance of giving women the right to terminate pregnancies in the province.

They say there will be little chance of the law being extended once policing and justice powers are devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The new ministry will be dominated by the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein, both of which firmly oppose such a move. The abortion amendment is due to be introduced into the House of Commons on Wednesday, but there are fears it will fall off the parliamentary timetable because the time allotted for the debate has been so curtailed. Pro-choice MPs and groups allege this is due to a private deal between Downing Street and the Democratic Unionist party - a claim both dispute.
...
Several hundred anti-abortion activists descended on Stormont to voice their opposition to the bill. Democratic Unionist MP Jeffrey Donaldson predicted there would be a 'constitutional crisis' with Westminster if the motion is passed. He told the rally that, if the bill was introduced, the assembly would refuse to implement it. He said the leaders of the four main parties, Peter Robinson (DUP), Gerry Adams (Sinn Fein), Sir Reg Empey (Ulster Unionists) and Mark Durkan (SDLP), had signed a joint letter to every MP urging them to vote down the bill. He confirmed that the DUP would ensure that a future devolved ministry controlling law and the judiciary would continue to ban abortion.

Northern Ireland's Catholic bishops warned MPs that any attempt to make abortion legal would be 'intruding' on the peace process and failing to uphold a fundamental value that has consistently united main traditions on the island of Ireland.' At a '40 women protest' in Derry - a rally to mark the number of women each week who travel to Britain for abortions - the Alliance for Choice said the bishops of 'talking nonsense'.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/oct/19/abortion-devolution-northern-ireland

The rumour is that Gordon Brown agreed to keep the amendment out of the bill, in return for Democratic Unionist support on introducing 42 day detention without charge - see http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jun/11/terrorism.uksecurity1 . But that bill was defeated anyway, in the House of Lords, and Brown has now dropped attempts to introduce that particular draconian measure. So you'd hope he'd grow a bit of a spine, and not give in to the DUP. But I won't hold my breath.

For regular updates on this, follow the Liberal Conspiracy group blog.

[LeftishBrit]

1. Thanks for posting; this is an important issue!

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Harman to block Commons votes on liberalising abortion laws

Harman is a wanker. That is all.

The Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris last night condemned Harman's argument, saying: "That is a completely spurious allegation to give cover. It would be a disgraceful move if the government, having permitted anti-abortion amendments to reduce the time limit to be voted on at committee stage , now prevents by a ploy a free vote on pro-choice reforms of the abortion law."

MPs are planning to table three amendments to liberalise Britain's abortion laws when the human fertilisation and embryology (HFE) bill is debated by MPs for the final time tomorrow. The changes would have allowed one doctor to sanction an abortion, by ending the "two doctor" rule; permitted nurses to perform abortions; and legalised abortions in Northern Ireland.
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Harman, who spoke in favour of the latest pro-choice amendments from the opposition benches when a similar embryology bill was debated in 1990, is planning to invoke a special Commons procedure to block any vote on abortion. It is expected that she will introduce a procedural motion to decide the order in which MPs debate the bill. The motion, which would place abortion far down the list, would be subject to a three-line whip because the HFE bill is a government bill that will be subject to a three-line whip tomorrow. Votes on abortion laws, which can only be introduced by backbenchers, are always subject to free votes.
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But there was speculation last night that the government was acting to please the main political parties in Northern Ireland who are united in supporting the ban on abortions in the province. Some members of the Democratic Unionist party said its nine MPs voted in favour of the government's plan to detain terror suspects without charge for 42 days in June after ministers assured Northern Ireland's parties that the abortion ban would be retained.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/oct/21/health-health1

[LeftishBrit]

3. Your characterization of her is correct!

And she used to be reasonable - being in the Blair/Brown government has corrupted her! Like so many.

Harris is my MP, and is great.

[kimmylavin]

4. Important - thanks for this.

I have a cousin who works in the health department in Belfast.
Staunchly pro-choice, and he does everything he can to help the women who come to his office, including helping out with those boat and plane trips to Britain.

All these people, trying to make private medical decisions for strangers... where do you get the nerve?