The 1967 Abortion Act, which gave women in England, Wales and Scotland the legal right to have an abortion was never extended to Northern Ireland.
 
So, in 2008, some 40 years later, more than 50,000 women in Northern Ireland have been forced to travel to England or another European country since then to pay for a private abortion.  This is despite every other woman in the UK being able to have an abortion free on the NHS. Given that some women give false addresses, as many as 70,000 could be travelling abroad. Last year 1,343 women from Northern Ireland came to England for an abortion.
 
That means women in Northern Ireland of different ages and of all faiths who are homeless, destitute, have family or financial problems, been diagnosed with a fetal abnormality, been raped, or who simply cannot cope with pregnancy or motherhood, cannot have an abortion in their own country. Help us stop this now!

What happens to women in Northern Ireland if they want an abortion?

They travel outside Northern Ireland. Almost 1,500 women did this in 2007.

Women who decide to have an abortion have to travel to England or overseas to pay for a private abortion which depending on the stage of the pregnancy costs between £600 and £2,000.  This can make abortion a class issue as it is often only available to those who can afford it. Women traveling for an abortion have to organise and pay for the journey, the accommodation and the procedure themselves. They may have to take days off work or school, arrange childcare, perhaps pretend the trip was for another reason. They return home afterwards to an environment that does little to support their physical and emotional wellbeing so they simply cover up what has happened. For some the greatest price they pay is the emotional toll from having to have an abortion this way.

They resort to unsafe and illegal abortion practices purchasing abortion pills on the internet.

International evidence shows that making abortions illegal only results in women resorting to unsafe abortion practices. Since Northern Ireland was excluded from the 1967 Act there have been at least five known deaths to unsafe abortion practices.

Calls to the FPA helpline reveal that some desperate women are accessing rogue internet sites to purchase the ‘abortion pill’. Often they receive an incomplete dosage which can result in medical complications requiring intervention by a health professional. This potentially places both the woman and the health professional at risk of prosecution as this could be legally interpreted as procuring an illegal abortion in Northern Ireland.

They are forced to continue with an unwanted pregnancy

Determining how many women have been forced to continue with a pregnancy because they could not obtain an abortion is impossible to measure. These women remain a silent and hidden group in Northern Ireland.
 
Since Northern Ireland’s exclusion from the 1967 Act women have been silently ‘voting with their feet’ for the right to access abortion services. Every other woman in the UK has that right and unlike Northern Ireland women they are entitled to an abortion free of charge on the NHS. It’s time to end this discrimination so join the FPA campaign to get women in Northern Ireland a right to free accessible abortion in Northern Ireland.

What is the current legal situation in Northern Ireland?

Abortion is only available in ‘exceptional circumstances’.

The absence of guidelines results in inconsistent practice by health professionals in determining which women are entitled to an abortion in Northern Ireland and which are not. For example, women whose pregnancies have been diagnosed with fetal abnormality don’t automatically qualify for an abortion. FPA began historic legal proceedings against the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS)  back in May 2001 to request advice and guidance.

What services does FPA provide in Northern Ireland?

FPA runs the only non-judgemental, non-directive unplanned pregnancy counselling, information and support service and helpline. Counsellors in FPA offices in Belfast and Derry see about 500 women a year.
 
We also run community based personal development sexual health programmes throughout Northern Ireland with a variety of different groups. Find out more about the FPA campaign for women's rights to abortion in Northern Ireland.