Ireland’s abortion vote spurs debate

North’s discussion heats up after neighbor’s choice

Last month, Ireland voted in a landslide to repeal its near-total constitutional ban on abortion, paving the way for far less restrictive abortion laws. But next door in Northern Ireland, things are much different.

At present, women in Northern Ireland can legally have abortions only if pregnancy puts their physical or mental health at risk. Abortions are otherwise banned, even in cases of rape or fatal fetal abnormalities, and doctors who perform abortions outside of these strict rules can be imprisoned.

Surveys suggest that Northern Irish voters are no less keen for a change than their neighbors. Last year, the Northern Irish Life and Times Survey, conducted by two Northern Ireland universities, found that about 80 percent of people in the country oppose the current laws. And in January, a United Nations committee found that the United Kingdom, of which Northern Ireland is a part, violates the rights of women in Northern Ireland by restricting their access to abortion.

“Denial of abortion and criminalization of abortion amounts to discrimination against women because it is a denial of a service that only women need,” the vice chair of the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women said. “And it puts women in horrific situations.”

Such activists want British Prime Minister Theresa May to relax Northern Ireland’s laws or call for a referendum on changing them. Although Northern Ireland has its own parliament, the British government retains the right to shape national policy on key issues. Abortion rights advocates argue that abortion is a human rights issue and under May’s jurisdiction. So far, May has declined to act.