Women’s access to abortion in Northern Ireland on ‘cliff-edge’ due to government inaction

Women’s access to abortion services in Northern Ireland are on a “cliff-edge” due to the government’s failure to roll out services for pregnancy terminations, campaigners have warned.

Abortion was banned in almost all circumstances, even rape and incest, with women seeking terminations facing life imprisonment, until the procedure was legalised in Northern Ireland in October 2019.

But the government has not created any abortion services, with the few providers delivering terminations, which are run by the voluntary sector, starkly overstretched.

Grainne Teggart, the Northern Ireland campaign manager for Amnesty International, told The Independent services are dependant “on the good will of clinicians and the voluntary sector”.

She added: “Our own Health Minister has once again failed women by not guaranteeing access to abortion services. If there is no funding, then we could see the collapse of early medical abortions in Northern Ireland.”

Ms Teggart warned government inaction to commission abortion services has “directly led to the impending collapse” of abortion services as she warned it is the Health Minister’s responsibility to eradicate obstacles to healthcare rather than generate them.

She said: “Early medical abortion access is on a cliff-edge. The Secretary of State must act now to direct the commissioning services before it is too late. The consequences of collapse in this vital provision will be significant for both women and healthcare professionals.

“It doesn’t have to be this way. Swift action from the Secretary of State and even funding on an interim basis could save these services. We are deeply concerned by the cliff-edge situation we face. No woman must be refused this service.”

New research, carried out by Informing Choices NI, which refers women to abortion services in Northern Ireland, shows almost 2,200 women contacted the charity between April last year and this April.

Informing Choices NI has said it will stop being able to run its services from the beginning of October because of the Health Minister not commissioning services unless funding is gained by then.

Brandon Lewis, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, previously indicated he will instruct Stormont to roll out abortion services if no action is taken by the summer.

Northern Ireland’s Human Rights Commission has launched a landmark legal challenge against the Northern Ireland Executive and the UK government over the protracted failure to commission abortion services. In their view, the delay infringes women and girls’ human rights.

Healthcare providers recently toldThe Independent women in Northern Ireland are routinely struggling to get the abortions they are now legally entitled to and many are calling services in floods of tears due to confusion about how they access terminations.

If you are based in Northern Ireland and have been affected by the issues raised in this story, you can speak to someone in confidence at theAbortion Support Network by calling 07897 611593 or emailing info@asn.org.uk or you can ring MSI Reproductive Choices on 0333 234 2184.