Introduction

Legal and non-legal barriers to abortion in Ireland and the United Kingdom

“…Previously, Northern Ireland had been governed by the highly restrictive Offences Against the Person Act of 1861 and subsequent legal precedents that interpreted it. 32 Under this law, only a handful of pregnant people could access abortion in local hospitals each year. Some people travelled to other parts of the United Kingdom to access abortion services where they paid the same fees as non-residents, while others attempted illegal methods of ending their pregnancies, including by buying abortion pills online.…”

“…While abortion is now legally accessible in Northern Ireland, it is not yet a healthcare service easily available to those who require it. Abortion has long been a contentious and politicised issue in Northern Ireland 32 and the law reform cannot change that overnight. Polarised and loud pro- and anti- abortion voices remain, with the Northern Ireland Assembly led by the anti-abortion Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin, which recently reversed its stance on abortion to support the new regulations.…”