Pro-choice group plans to offer abortion pills in Northern Ireland tour
IRELAND - Pro-choice activists are planning to distribute abortion pills from a bus touring Northern Ireland this week in protest against the near-total ban on terminations in the region.
The medication is illegal in Northern Ireland which, after the referendum in the Republic on Friday, will soon be the only place in the UK and the island of Ireland where women cannot terminate unwanted pregnancies. Members of Rosa (Reproductive Rights, Against Oppression, Sexism & Austerity) will offer the pills from an “abortion bus” touring Belfast, Derry, Lisburn and Cookstown. The stunt comes amid mounting pressure on Theresa May to bring Northern Ireland into line with the rest of the UK. A number of Westminster MPs have called for a Commons vote or a local referendum. Last weekend, the international development secretary, Penny Mordaunt, said Ireland’s vote was a “hopeful” day for the north. “That hope must be met,” she added. However, May is resisting demands, saying the issue is for Northern Ireland to decide. The 1967 Abortion Act was never extended to the region, and abortion is only allowed if the life or mental health of the mother is at risk. Both Lives Matter, an anti-abortion organisation in Northern Ireland, has called on the police to arrest pro-choice activists and seize abortion pills when the bus arrives.
Dawn McAvoy, a co-founder of the organisation, said she expected the police to “uphold the law, arrest those behind this stunt and seize the pills”. She added that the activists should be prosecuted. “These pills are illegal so it is clearly up to the to do something about it. They have to arrest those distributing these illegal pills and seize them before they are distributed,” she said. (The Guardian)