Bradley backs talks on Northern Ireland abortion laws

KAREN BRADLEY has backed calls for a debate on abortion in Northern Ireland, which will take place today after an emergency petition was granted.

The Northern Ireland Secretary was joined by a number of other senior Government ministers who stood to show their support for the debate, which will take place for three hours in the House of Commons.

Pressure is mounting on Theresa May to overhaul restrictive abortion laws in Northern Ireland after a referendum in the Republic of Ireland that saw a large majority vote for abortion to be made legal in certain circumstances, mirroring the rights of women in mainland UK. MPS will today debate whether the Offences Against the Person Act should be scrapped across the UK after the DUP said it would not back similar changes in Northern Ireland.

The Act was amended in 1967 to allow women to terminate their pregnancies, but the amendment does not apply in Northern Ireland.

Fewer than 20 abortions were carried out in Northern Ireland last year, with many women travelling to clinics in England for the procedure.

Speaking over the weekend Stella Creasy, the Labour MP who demanded the change, said: “Right now in Northern Ireland, where there are no exemptions to this law, if you are raped and you become pregnant as a result of that rape, and you seek a termination, you would face a longer prison sentence than the person who attacked you.”

The Prime Minister has said the law in Northern Ireland is a matter for the devolved administration, but there has not been an executive in the country for months, leaving Westminster responsible. Mrs May faces a tricky choice because she relies on the DUP for her Commons majority.