ABORTION: THE IRISH QUESTION
Nearly 4,000 women a year cross the Irish Sea to access legal terminations
NEARLY nine women a day from the Republic of Ireland have abortions in England and Wales, new figures have revealed.
Some 3,265 women travelled to England and Wales from southern Ireland to terminate their pregnancies in 2016 - the latest year for which figures are available.
A further 724 came from Northern Ireland.
It means women from the Republic of Ireland account for 68 per cent of all women travelling from abroad to England and Wales for terminations, and women from the North for a further 15 per cent.
The news comes after the Republic of Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announced plans to hold a referendum allowing people to vote on the legality of abortion.
Abortions there are currently illegal because the eighth amendment treats any embryo and foetus as having the same right to life as a pregnant woman. Any woman who does have an abortion in the Republic of Ireland faces up to 14 years in prison.
In England and Wales - as well as Scotland - women can access abortions up to 24 weeks after becoming pregnant.
Ten of the women who travelled to England and Wales from Ireland for abortions in 2016 were under the age of 16, according to the data, which is published by the Department for Health. Legally this means they were raped, but Irish law says that anyone who conceived through rape must still continue with their pregnancy. While citizens of England and Wales can terminate pregnancies for free on the NHS, women from abroad must pay. Nearly 70 per cent of Irish women who travelled to England and Wales had terminations between the three-to-nine week gestation mark. Some 510 were between 10-12 weeks, and 393 between 13-19 weeks. Just 106 pregnancies were at 20 weeks or later.
To undergo an abortion England or Wales, a pregnant woman must have at least one reason for wanting to end the pregnancy. The majority of Irish pregnancies were terminated on ground C.
Ground C is when continuing a pregnancy beyond 24 weeks would involve a risk of physical or mental harm to the pregnant women that is greater than the risk involved in terminating the pregnancy.
Often referred to as the “mental health clause”, it is interpreted liberally in England and Wales to enable women to access abortions when needed. If the eighth amendment in the Republic of Ireland is repealed, nothing becomes law until the Dail (parliament) votes for it. That is considered far from a given, since a coalition government is currently in power. After calling the referendum, Mr Varadkar said: “We know that thousands of Irish women go abroad for abortions every year. “We know that many women are obtaining abortion pills through the post to end their pregnancies, without any medical support, or counselling, or supervision.