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Abortion: NI, Hunt and the Supreme Court

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Supreme Court, abortion appeal, Jeremy Hunt, Northern IrelandJeremy Hunt has the legal authority to grant women resident in Northern Ireland NHS-funded abortion care in England.

A Supreme Court appeal challenging the UK government’s refusal to provide NHS-funded abortion care in England for women resident in Northern Ireland but who travel to England narrowly failed last week.

The case was brought by a young woman, A, who in 2012, as a pregnant 15 year-old girl, travelled with her mother, B, from their home in Northern Ireland to Manchester for an abortion, at a cost of £900.

The court divided 3-2 against the appeal, expressing sympathy for the women of Northern Ireland but stating that the judges were restrained by the decision of the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, who had argued the ban was out of “respect” for the democratic process in Northern Ireland.

Abortion is effectively banned in all but the most severe of circumstances in Northern Ireland.

And despite being UK taxpayers, women from Northern Ireland in need of abortion care currently have to fund both travelling to England and their treatment.

The Supreme Court’s ruling said that as Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt holds the legal authority to grant women resident in Northern Ireland NHS-funded abortion care in England, but he had decided against doing so.

His decision was not, apparently, made because of constraints on the NHS budget, but out of “respect” for the democratic decisions of the Northern Ireland Assembly, in which the largest party is currently the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

Hunt had previously said that the government’s policy was that “in general, the NHS should not fund services for residents of Northern Ireland which the Northern Ireland Assembly has deliberately decided not to legislate to provide.”

But a report in the Guardian on 19 June said that a large majority of Northern Ireland’s population were apparently in favour of reforming the region’s strict anti-abortion laws and backed legal terminations for women made pregnant through sexual violence.

The latest Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, the Guardian reported, has found that nearly 80 per cent of the public in the region believe abortion should be legal when a woman has become pregnant as a result of rape or incest.

The public attitudes survey, regarded as one of the most accurate barometers of social option in the region, also found that 73 per cent of those polled think abortion should be legal in local hospitals in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities – that is when if a pregnancy goes to full term the baby will be born dead or die shortly after birth.

A coalition of reproductive healthcare providers intervened in the case: Alliance for Choice, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (bpas), Birthrights, the Family Planning Association (FPA), and the Abortion Support Network (ASN).

Commenting on the verdict at the time, Ann Furedi, chief executive of bpas, said: “We are of course disappointed with the overall verdict of the Supreme Court.

“NHS-funded abortion care may not have been declared a legal right for Northern Irish women today, but it is morally right to provide it. 724 women travelled from Northern Ireland to England for abortion care in 2016.

“They deserve the same care and compassion as all other UK citizens.”​

Mara Clare, director of the Abortion Support Network (ASN), said: “ASN will continue to help as many women as we can afford the £400-£2000 it can cost to travel and pay privately for an abortion in England.”

Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, told the Scottish parliament in November 2016 that Scotland’s – devolved – government would explore the possibility of giving women from Northern Ireland access to abortions in Scotland’s health service free of charge.

The Supreme Court in London was considering the Northern Irish teenager’s application at the time.

Since this June verdict the Scottish government has repeated its intention: according to the Belfast Telegraph Nicola Sturgeon is reported to be discussing the matter with the country’s Chief Medical Officer Catherine Calderwood.

You can help too.

You can write to Jeremy Hunt and express your dismay at the unfairness of his remarks and ask him to reconsider them.

Or write to Ruth Davidson, Scottish Conservative leader, who has called for support for LGBTI rights but not for women’s rights in the face of commitment by the Conservative party to work alongside the anti-abortion DUP.

Or write to Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, to support the idea of Scotland helping Northern Ireland’s women and girls.

Or you can donate to the Abortion Support Network.

Or you can join the Women’s March on Downing Street against the DUP on 24 June 2017. It starts at 12 noon in Parliament Square, London.

Or do some or all of the above.

Thanks.

If you are in Ireland or Northern Ireland and need help, contact the Abortion Support Network.

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