"We must speak up for Northern Irish women"

[LauraMumsnet]

Think that abortion is accessible for all UK women? Guess again. And then please take two minutes to speak up for Northern Irish women by asking your MP to stop them being treated as second class citizens in the 21st century when it comes to their reproductive rights.

It's 50 years since the 1967 Act was passed, and legislation brought which gives women reproductive rights- except if they live in Northern Ireland. There abortion is illegal in all but the most exceptional of circumstances. Specifically, abortion is not currently permitted due to the pregnancy being the result of rape, nor in cases of fatal fetal anomaly – where the baby has no chance of surviving outside the womb.

As a result, in 2016, 724 women from Northern Ireland travelled to England for abortion care. Yet despite being UK citizens, and UK taxpayers, these women were not entitled to NHS-funded treatment, and as a result would have had to pay between £400 to upwards of £1400 for a medical procedure which is fully funded for all other UK residents. This is in addition to the cost of travel, childcare, and potentially taking unpaid time off work. Because of the expense, many women from Northern Ireland travel alone, on what is often an incredibly difficult day, without the support of their partner, mother, or friends.

Women who use the services of UK-based charity, Abortion Support Network, have been driven to drastic steps in order to afford to travel. These included selling their children’s Christmas presents, rationing food for the family, asking the man who raped them for a loan, selling their car, failing to pay the rent, going to disreputable money-lenders, and avoiding paying utility bills. Others end up falsely giving an English address, buying abortion pills illegally online, or even attempting an illegal abortion themselves.

This month Jeremy Hunt, our UK Health Secretary, fought and won a court case on his right to continue to refuse to allow Northern Irish women to have an abortion on the NHS if they come to England and Wales, claiming he was doing so out of "respect" for the Northern Ireland Assembly. Thus, as the dissenting Judge in the court highlighted, if a Northern Irish woman comes to London and requires an appendectomy, she is given one on the NHS free of charge; but if she needs an abortion, she has to pay. This is in stark contrast to our efforts as a country to help women in other nations access reproductive services. Our Department for International Development states: "Women and adolescent girls must have the right to make their own decisions about their sexual and reproductive health and well-being, and be able to choose whether, when and how many children to have." To that end, the UK government has spent £3m over 4 years on supporting this aim.

This campaign isn't about reproductive services in a developing nation - or the decisions of the Northern Ireland Assembly. It's about what is happening at your local hospital - where vulnerable women in need are being denied access to a service their taxes pay for simply because of their postcode. And however hard the Government try to blame Northern Irish politicians for this, what happens in English and Welsh hospitals is a matter for English and Welsh politicians.

To make this change now isn't to give up on securing access for Northern Irish women to abortion services in their home nation as well. Nor is it to incur substantial cost to the NHS. Indeed, the cost of providing terminations safely and legally to these women annually is estimated to be around £350,500. As this case will now go to the European Court of Human Rights, it's entirely possible that the taxpayers' money Jeremy Hunt could spend on court fees could exceed the cost of offering such a service.

The Government have now entered into a formal agreement with the DUP to keep themselves in power - a Northern Irish political party implacably opposed to the rights of Northern Irish women to access abortion services. The DUP also have form when it comes to seeking to restrict the rights of residents of other nations in the UK – including trying to stop Scotland from granting Northern Irish citizens the right to have their civil partnerships converted into marriages. Unless Jeremy Hunt changes his mind, decisions made in Belfast will continue to affect the choices open to UK citizens in Bath, Barnsley or Bangor.

The chances of overturning this decision depend upon MPs speaking up to show that we will not let equality be the casualty of Theresa May’s desperate deal to stay in Downing Street. I have tabled an amendment to the Queen’s Speech on this issue which MPs can vote on this week – to ask your MP to commit to action and support this campaign please click here or follow the tag #mypledgeherchoice. We can together send a message the women of Northern Ireland should not pay the price of keeping Theresa May in power.

My sister had to sneak off to England for an abortion over 30yrs ago. A 22yr old friend of my youngest boy had to do the same this year. Over thirty years apart, yet both females had to have a secret abortion and still feel that they can't speak about it, in case people turn on them. It's heartbreaking. I fucking hate that the narrow minded bible bashers get to decide what women can do to their bodies and the British government are supporting them.

I am going to assume my MP is in favour of the amendment as she is the author of this post

The appalling situation doesn't just impact NI women seeking abortion. We are denied trisomy screening that's available on the NHS in other parts of the UK because as my obstetrician said "they're not going to do anything if the test comes back positive". This is a simple blood test done between 11 and 14 weeks.

As a result I had to pay or else endure an agonising wait until my 20 scan and then have an amniocentesis test. The risk for me was 1:40. I was terrified. Of what the future held. Of amniocentesis. Of termination. Of 20wk+ termination. I had no choice but to spend money I couldn't afford just to access the same service that was freely available to other UK women.

I was lucky that I could raise the money (and the results were negative). Other women with fewer resources are forced, if not to give birth, to undergo a most invasive, traumatic and expensive procedure, away from their homes and support if they wish to terminate.

Thank you to all MNetters who have written to their MPs.

I'll write to my mp but judging by her voting record, she'll be supporting the women of NI anyway.

Presumably women in Northern Ireland have a vote and can speak for themselves. A fair proportion must therefore be in favour of this ridiculous policy.

Exactly.

@fluffiphlox No. Recent polls showed that three quarters of people in NI are in favour of removing some or all of the restrictions on abortion. But voting in NI is more complex than in the rest of the UK. The question of a united Ireland, plus legacy issues from the Troubles (don't forget that many many people in NI were directly impacted, i.e. lost a friend or family member) means that a lot of people here feel they have no choice but to vote AGAINST the party they see as the 'enemy'. That means those parties can continue to uphold awful, backwards policies because they won't lose votes. Plus the only major party that has a pro-choice policy here is Sinn Fein and a) for some people there's no point voting SF in their area and b) others will never vote SF no matter their policies because they either don't want a united Ireland or they see them as terrorists.

Even for me it's not that simple. I am a passionate and active pro-choice campaigner. In the assembly elections I vote for pro-choice parties. But in the recent General Election it was more important to me to try and keep the DUP out in my area, so I voted for Alliance for whom abortion is a conscience issue so they don't have a policy. Frustrating but I felt I had no choice.

It's a bit like the independence question in Scotland at the moment. People will vote SNP if they want to see an independent Scotland even if they don't necessarily support all the SNP's policies. People who are passionately against an independent Scotland will vote for whatever party they feel is most likely to defeat the SNP in their area.

Many, many people who vote DUP don't support their policies. But they are committed to remaining a part of the United Kingdom and think that if they don't vote DUP there's a danger of that changing, and they don't want to risk that.

It's really not as simple as 'they vote for them, they must agree with them'.

So is a new political party required? Sounds to me as if the dinosaurs need their heads knocking together. And now we're being asked to 'stand up for women in NI' as if it's a third world country.

There was a women's party and still is a women's equality party but to be honest they don't seem to be very active.

Naomi Long is the leader of the Alliance party and MLA for my area. Alliance allow their MP's to vote as they wish on this but Naomi backs abortion rights. Andy Allan, a UUP MLA in my area also backs abortion reform in case of fatal fetal anomaly or rape, so another political party won't help, even with proportional representation.

The problem is the petition of concern. The DUP can use it to block any laws they don't like if they have over 30 seats. It was not designed to be used like that but it was also used to block gay marriage after the assembly voted in favour of it.

The DUP lost the number of seats they needed for a petition of concern in the last assembly elections. Then came Brexit, which threw NI back into tribal voting.

We'll see what happens today with the assembly talks.

@fluffiphlox It's just not that simple. It will be a long while before NI is anything other than a two-party state - it was starting to happen (Alliance performed well in the recent Assembly Elections and the Greens also won quite a few seats, as well as some of the more moderate Sectarian parties) but with Brexit the question of a united Ireland was reignited and people reverted to their 'safe' votes. A new party wouldn't solve anything any more than it would in the rest of the UK. The key is to put pressure on the main parties to change their policies and that what we do - it worked with Sinn Fein who have relaxed their abortion policy somewhat and now support abortion in the case of rape or fatal fetal abnormality. Unfortunately the DUP have been emboldened by recent events so that will have set us back. But what we're asking here is for mainland UK to a) allow us access to a service our taxes go towards and b) help us continue to put that pressure on our major parties.

Of course NI is not a 'third world country' but women here are forced to continue with pregnancies when they've been raped, when they know that the baby will die at birth if not before. It's barbaric. My last pregnancy was incompatible with life. I had to wait four weeks for the fetus to die naturally. That's nothing compared to what some women go through, but it was horrendous. I can't understand why anyone would object to supporting the women in NI in their quest for bodily autonomy (unless they themselves are pro-life of course).

peachgreen I'm sorry you had to go through that

@Flavia Thank you so much. It was honestly nothing compared to what other women have to go through but it was very difficult.

I'm not by any means saying the law isn't barbaric. It sounds positively medieval. The DUP seem a ghastly bunch of bigots.

I live in the Speaker's constituency and 2000 of us spoiled our votes this time around because of the lack of a real choice. Does that happen there?

NI uses proportional representation for assembly elections fluffiphlox so there's generally always a choice. Whether your choice gets enough preference votes to get in is another matter but the choice is there. There's always a fair few independents standing.

The UUP imploded some years ago and it was the only moderate pro union party. So if people don't want or fear a United Ireland they may feel obliged to vote for DUP who are in no way moderate.

Yes, even if people don't support the policies, I would say that most people (not all, but most) have a strong enough view on a united Ireland to not risk spoiling their ballot.

So is a new political party required?

Ha!! long overdue. The old school need to go and we need new politics in NI. That's very obvious. But not so easy to do. The two biggies are so entrenched.

Just heard Hammond's statement! Well done Stella and all concerned!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40438390

Brilliant news, thank you Stella and anyone who contacted their MP!

Sounds like Stella's asking for clarification on detail. Hope it's all straightforward.

just heard the news, fantastic

Well, there's still the amendment if it's not satisfactory. Fingers crossed.

Well maybe that's progress of a kind.

seems like a big deal.

Wow! I am delighted :)