MPs in bid to change same-sex marriage and NI abortion laws

TWO Labour MPs have launched a bid to reform Northern Ireland’s abortion laws and introduce same-sex marriage.

Conor McGinn and Stella Creasy have tabled amendments to new legislation from Secretary of State Karen Bradley.

Mrs Bradley is to move legislation in the House of Commons this week in an attempt to give further decision-making powers to civil servants here in the absence of an Assembly.

The DUP are opponents of same-sex marriage and extended abortion rights. Theresa May’s government currently relies on their MPs to pass legislation through a confidence-and-supply agreement.

Abortion is illegal in Northern Ireland in all but the most extreme cases. On average, 28 women a week travel to England for terminations.

Calls for our laws to be reformed have increased in the wake of the Republic voting to legalise abortion in May.

Mrs Creasy has been a sup- Amendments: Labour MPs Conor McGinn and Stella Creasy

porter of abortion rights for women in Northern Ireland and has raised the issue in the Commons on a number of occasions.

Same-sex couples are allowed to wed in England, Wales, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, but it is against the law here.

Earlier this year Mr McGinn, who is from Armagh, proposed a Bill to legalise same-sex marriage but it was blocked at its second reading, meaning it could not proceed through the Commons.

Mrs Bradley has said it is the responsibility of devolved au- thorities to deliver change — but there has been no Stormont Executive in place since January 2017.

Speaking to the The Observer Mr McGinn said that equal marriage rights were “long overdue”.

Mrs Creasy added: “The inequality in basic human rights between the people of Northern Ireland and their fellow citizens in the rest of the UK is a travesty,

“The Prime Minister has repeatedly promised MPs a free vote on these issues — it’s now time to see if she puts principle or staying in power with the DUP first.”

Meanwhile, a former Labour minister has said Westminster must scrap abortion laws to protect the rights of women in Northern Ireland.

Hull North MP Diana Johnson was speaking as she prepares to bring forward her Abortion Bill to the Commons tomorrow.

Ms Johnson wants to remove the section of the 1867 Act that criminalises abortion and bring in her own, modernised Act in England and Wales, hoping Northern Ireland will consider following suit.