Scrap abortion laws to protect Ulster women’s rights, says Labour MP

WESTMINSTER MUST scrap 157-year-old abortion laws to protect the rights of women in Northern Ireland, according to a Yorkshire MP.

Outdated abortion laws must be modernised to protect women, Hull North MP Diana Johnson has said, as she prepares to bring forward her Abortion Bill to the Commons tomorrow.

Northern Ireland is still ruled by an 1861 Act threatening anyone performing abortions with life imprisonment, which was ruled as a breach of human rights by the Supreme Court this summer.

The ruling followed a landslide referendum vote to legalise abortion in the Republic of Ireland, which Ms Johnson said means now is the right time to act.

Ms Johnson, a former Labour Minister 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.

She also wants to make it a criminal offence for someone to force a non-consensual abortion “such as someone who is violent towards a pregnant woman or puts tablets in someone’s drink” punishable by life imprisonment.

Ms Johnson said: “It never seems to have been the right time to address the inequality in Northern Ireland, until now.

“The Irish abortion referendum has made the difference north and south of the border very stark.

“The 1861 Act is more than 150 years old – it is the oldest healthcare regulation in the country.

She cited a recent Amnesty International poll indicating 66 per cent support for Westminster intervention on the issue and 65 per cent support for decriminalising abortion in Northern Ireland as a reason to intervene in the controversial area.