Editing Abortion in the United Kingdom (section)

===Proposals since 1967: Northern Ireland===
Health, social care and criminal justice policy was devolved to the [[Northern Ireland Parliament]] at the time of the Abortion Act 1967's passage at Westminster and the Parliament did not introduce abortion legislation before its suspension in 1972.  Statute law was maintained unchanged under Conservative and Labour [[Direct rule (Northern Ireland)|direct rule administrations]] and the first [[Northern Ireland Assembly (1973)|Northern Ireland Assembly]] in 1973-1974 although the law was interpreted through [[#Case law before 2019|case law]] in local courts (during the 1990s) to also allow for the grounds of "a risk of real and serious adverse effect on{{nbsp}}[...] [the] physical or mental health [of the woman] is either long term or permanent". From 1983 onwards, the [[Constitution of Ireland]], covering the Republic with a territorial claim on Northern Ireland until 1998, acknowledged "the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother" and "guaranteed in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right."<ref>[[Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland]] (approved 1983; repealed 2018)</ref>

The new [[Northern Ireland Assembly]], formed in 1998 following the [[Good Friday Agreement]], voted in June 2000 to oppose the extension of the Abortion Act 1967 to Northern Ireland; the motion was proposed by the [[Democratic Unionist Party]] (DUP) and supported by the [[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] (SDLP) which was, at the time, opposed to abortion but also emphasised an understanding of the social, economic and personal circumstances that gave rise to women choosing the option of an abortion.<ref>{{cite web |title=Official Report, 20 June 2000 |url=http://archive.niassembly.gov.uk/record/reports/000620d.htm |website=www.niassembly.gov.uk |publisher=Northern Ireland Assembly |access-date=16 August 2022 |date=20 June 2000 |quote=That this Assembly is opposed to the extension of the Abortion Act 1967 to Northern Ireland.}}</ref> While health policy had been devolved again to Northern Ireland in December 1999, on the formation of the first [[Northern Ireland Executive]], criminal law (including in relation to abortion) continued to be reserved to Parliament at Westminster until the devolution of policing and justice powers in May 2010.<ref>{{OGL-attribution|version=3.0|{{cite web |title=Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Amendment of Schedule 3) Order 2010: Explanatory Note |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/977/note/made |website=www.legislation.gov.uk |publisher=National Archives |access-date=16 August 2022}}}}</ref>

Political debate around abortion issues was renewed following the opening of a private abortion clinic in Belfast in 2012, the [[Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013]] in the Republic, and the widespread discussion of a case of fatal foetal abnormality; several debates took place in the Northern Ireland Assembly and its members, in line with party policy and/or personal conscience, decided not to proceed with changes in the law.<ref name="SW_051212">{{cite news | last = Harkin | first = Shaun | title = The struggle for abortion rights in Ireland | url = http://socialistworker.org/2012/12/05/abortion-rights-in-ireland | work = [[Socialist Worker#United Kingdom|Socialist Worker]] | date = 5 December 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Time for change in Northern Ireland | url = http://www.fpa.org.uk/abortion-rights/abortion-in-northern-ireland | website = fpa.org.uk | publisher = [[Family Planning Association]] | access-date = 3 November 2014 | archive-date = 3 November 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141103175821/http://www.fpa.org.uk/abortion-rights/abortion-in-northern-ireland | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| last = AP|author-link=Associated Press|title=Protests as Ireland's 1st abortion clinic opens|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/10/18/ireland-abortion/1641323/|work=[[USA Today]]|date=18 October 2012}}</ref> An amendment by DUP MLA [[Jim Wells (politician)|Jim Wells]] to "restrict lawful abortions to NHS premises, except in cases of urgency when access to NHS premises is not possible and where no fee is paid" was unsuccessful.<ref>{{cite hansard |jurisdiction=Northern Ireland |house=[[Northern Ireland Executive]] | title = Amendment, new clause 'Ending the life of an unborn child' ''(Criminal Justice Bill Marshalled List of Amendments Further Consideration Stage)'' | url = http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/assembly-business/legislation/2011-2016-mandate/primary-legislation-current-bills/criminal-justice-bill/criminal-justice-bill-marshalled-list-of-amendments-further-consideration-stage/ | speaker = [[Jim Wells (politician)|Jim Wells]] | position = Member of the [[Northern Ireland Assembly]] for [[South Down (Assembly constituency)|South Down]] |date= 5 March 2013 }} [https://web.archive.org/web/20141103165614/http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/Documents/Justice/Justice-Bill/Amendment-by-J-Wells.pdf Archived 3 November 2014.]</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = Justice Act – Jim Wells' amendment: Submission to the Northern Ireland Assembly Justice Committee | url = https://www.amnesty.org.uk/sites/default/files/aiuk_justice_ctte_submission_justice_act_jim_wells_amendment_2014_0.pdf | publisher = [[Amnesty International]] | date = September 2014}}</ref> Later, as Health Minister, Jim Wells opposed abortion in cases of rape as the unborn child would be "punished for what has happened by having their life terminated" although he acknowledged that this would be "a tragic and difficult situation".<ref>{{cite news | last = McDonald | first = Henry | title = Northern Ireland gets health minister who opposes abortion for raped women | url = https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/sep/23/northern-ireland-health-minister-jim-wells-opposed-abortion-raped-women | work =[[The Guardian]] | date = 23 September 2014 }}</ref>

Justice Minister [[David Ford (politician)|David Ford]] (a member of the [[Alliance Party of Northern Ireland|Alliance Party]]) issued a public consultation on amending the criminal law on abortion, which opened in October 2014 and closed in January 2015.<ref name="dojni-consultation">{{cite book | title = The Criminal Law on Abortion – ''Lethal Foetal Abnormality and Sexual Crime'': A Consultation on Amending the Law by the Department of Justice | publisher = [[Department of Justice (Northern Ireland)|Department of Justice, Northern Ireland]] | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141103175751/http://www.dojni.gov.uk/index/public-consultations/current-consultations/the-criminal-law-on-abortion-lethal-foetal-abnormality-and-sexual-crime.pdf | archive-date = 3 November 2014 | url = http://www.dojni.gov.uk/index/public-consultations/current-consultations/the-criminal-law-on-abortion-lethal-foetal-abnormality-and-sexual-crime.pdf }}</ref> However, Ford also wrote that "it is not a debate on the wider issues of abortion law – issues often labelled as 'pro-choice' and 'pro-life'".<ref name="dojni-consultation"/> The [[Sinn Féin]] [[First Minister and deputy First Minister|deputy First Minister]], [[Martin McGuinness]], had initially stated his party's opposition to abortion and noted that the party had "resisted any attempt to bring the British 1967 Abortion Act to the North."<ref name="SW_051212" /> At its 2015 annual conference, Sinn Féin adopted a policy of allowing abortion under certain circumstances such as fatal foetal abnormality; this was superseded by a newer and more liberal policy adopted at its 2018 conference.<ref>{{cite news|last1=McDonald|first1=Henry | title = Sinn Féin drops opposition to abortion at Derry congress |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/07/sinn-fein-drops-opposition-to-abortion-at-derry-congress|work=[[The Guardian]]| date = 7 March 2015}}</ref>

In February 2016, during debates on the ''Justice (No.2) Bill'', the Assembly considered and debated an amendment to allow for abortion in cases of pregnancies caused by sexual crime (which was rejected by 64 notes to 32 ayes), and an amendment to allow for abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormality (which was rejected by 59 noes to 40 ayes). [[Sinn Féin]] and the [[Green Party in Northern Ireland|Green Party]] voted in favour of both proposals whereas the DUP and the SDLP supported the existing law and members of the [[Ulster Unionist Party]] (UUP) and [[Alliance Party of Northern Ireland|Alliance Party]] voted on conscience.<ref>{{cite web |title=Official Report, 10 February 2016 |url=http://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/officialreport/report.aspx?&amp;eveDate=2016/02/10&amp;docID=258728#1950918 |website=www.niassembly.gov.uk |publisher=Northern Ireland Assembly |access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref> The ''Abortion (Fatal Foetal Abnormality) Bill'' was introduced by [[David Ford (politician)|David Ford]], as a backbench MLA, in December 2016 but fell on the suspension of the Assembly in January 2017.<ref>{{cite web |title=Abortion (Fatal Foetal Abnormality) Bill |url=http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/assembly-business/legislation/2016-2017-mandate/non-executive-bill-proposals/abortion-ffa/ |website=www.niassembly.gov.uk |date = 2016 |publisher=Northern Ireland Assembly |access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref>

In the [[2017 United Kingdom general election|2017 UK general election]], the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] manifesto under the leadership of [[Jeremy Corbyn]] MP stated: "Labour will continue to ensure a woman's right to choose a safe, legal abortion – and we will work with the Assembly to extend that right to women in Northern Ireland."<ref>{{cite book |title=For the many not the few |date=2017 |publisher=Labour Party |location=London |page=109 |url=https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/labour-manifesto-2017.pdf |access-date=16 August 2022 |archive-date=21 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721070933/https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/labour-manifesto-2017.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The election resulted in a [[Conservative–DUP agreement|confidence and supply agreement]] between the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] and the (DUP). The Conservative Government, in June 2017, made a commitment to provide free abortion services in England for women from Northern Ireland due to pressure from Conservative MPs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/23/northern-irish-women-offered-free-abortion-services-in-england|title=Northern Irish women offered free abortion services in England|last=Elgot|first=Jessica|date=2017-10-23|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-03-16}}</ref> The Labour Party commitment was, in effect, delivered through [[#Changes in law: 2019–2020|private member's amendments enacted in the '''Northern Ireland Executive (Formation) Act 2019''']], which repealed the [[Offences against the Person Act 1861]] (sections 58 and 59) in October 2019. The political context was also changed by [[#Case law before 2019|legal challenges]], the [[Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland|repeal of the Eighth Amendment]] in the Republic in 2018 (supported by Sinn Féin), and the SDLP's decision to [[#Political party approaches|consider abortion as a matter of conscience]].

Shortly after the introduction of the '''Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020''', the newly restored Northern Ireland Assembly voted – with 46 members in favour and 40 against – to reject "the imposition of abortion legislation that extends to all non-fatal disabilities, including Down's syndrome."<ref>{{cite web |title=Official Report, 2 June 2020 |url=http://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/officialreport/report.aspx?eveDate=2020/06/02&docID=301413#2838527 |website=www.niassembly.gov.uk |publisher=Northern Ireland Assembly |access-date=24 December 2021}}</ref> Following this vote, the ''Severe Fetal Impairment Abortion (Amendment) Bill'' – to remove the grounds for abortion for non-fatal disabilities – was introduced by DUP MLA [[Paul Givan]] in February 2021. It reached its consideration stage in December 2021 but MLAs decided – by 45 votes to 43 – against the main proposal in the Bill at that stage.<ref>{{cite web |title=Severe Fetal Impairment Abortion (Amendment) Bill |url=http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/assembly-business/legislation/2017-2022-mandate/non-executive-bill-proposals/severe-fetal-impairment-abortion-amendment-bill/ |website=www.niassembly.gov.uk |publisher=Northern Ireland Assembly |access-date=24 December 2021}}</ref>