Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Derry Girls pair storm London
Stars to demand abortion law change
STARS of hit TV show Derry Girls will go to Westminster to demand abortion law reform.
Nicola Coughlan, who plays Clare Devlin and Siobhan Mcsweeney, who portrays Sr Michael, in the Channel 4 series will join 26 other women in a demo next week.
Organiser Amnesty International said the women marching over Westminster Bridge carrying suitcases will symbolise the number of females who leave Northern Ireland each week for a termination.
Each suitcase will contain names of 62,000 people who are calling for changes, signatures that the participants will bring to the Northern Ireland Office at Whitehall.
The campaigners want the UK Government to intervene in the absence of devolved ministers due to the powersharing crisis at Stormont. A termination is only permitted in Northern Ireland if a woman’s life is at risk or if there is a danger of permanent and serious damage to her mental or physical health.
Siobhan said the region had been “neglected for too long”.
She added: “It makes me so angry that women there are being denied bodily autonomy and health care services available to others in the rest of the UK and Ireland, they have reproductive rights too.
“I’ll be fighting with Amnesty until the degrading law is changed. It has to happen soon.”
Amnesty said MPS Diana Johnson, Heidi Allen, Karin Smyth and Christine Jardine are also due to take part in the event, as are women who have been impacted by abortion law.