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Moves are afoot to again try to liberalise Northern Ireland’s strict abortion laws. On two successive days this week a substantial majority of MPs in the UK parliament supported a private member’s bill and also an amendment to a government bill that aimed to give women in Northern Ireland similar rights to those in the rest of the UK.
But the private member’s bill, presented by the Labour MP Diana Johnson, will not become law because the government has indicated that it will not make parliamentary time available for it, even though MPs supported it by 208 votes to 123.
And while the amendment to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Bill put down by the Labour MPs Stella Creasey and Conor McGinn was passed by 207-117 and could become law after the bill goes through the House of Lords, it will not actually change the law in Northern Ireland.
Further pressure for reform will come when the Northern Ireland High Court hears the case of Sarah Ewart, who travelled to England for an abortion five years ago after she was told that her unborn baby had a fatal fetal abnormality. Mr Justice McCloskey ruled on 24 October that she had an arguable case that the departments of justice and of health in Northern Ireland had breached her human rights and pledged that it would be determined...