Human rights campaigners have lost a Supreme Court appeal over the legality of Northern Ireland’s abortion law.<\/p>\n
The court dismissed an appeal brought by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC).<\/p>\n
But a majority of judges said the existing law was incompatible with human rights law in cases of fatal foetal abnormality and sexual crime.<\/p>\n
Unlike other parts of the UK, the 1967 Abortion Act does not extend to Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
Currently, a termination is only permitted in Northern Ireland if a woman’s life is at risk or if there is a risk of permanent and serious damage to her mental or physical health.<\/p>\n
The commission lost on the issue of whether they had the required standing to bring the case, and analysts suggest the defeat came because of a technical legal point.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court judges said it would have required the case to have been brought by a woman who was pregnant as a result of sexual crime or who was carrying a foetus with a fatal abnormality.<\/p>\n
A fatal foetal abnormality diagnosis means doctors believe an unborn child has a terminal condition and will die in the womb or shortly after birth, although anti-abortion campaigners have argued that terminally-ill babies “can and do defy the odds”.<\/p>\n
As a result, the judges did not make a formal declaration of incompatibility, which would normally lead to a change in the law.<\/p>\n
The ruling comes just weeks after the Republic of Ireland\u00a0voted decisively in a referendum to reform the country’s strict abortion laws<\/a>, which had effectively banned all terminations.<\/p>\n The referendum reignited a debate about Northern Ireland’s law, with some calling for reform while others – including the biggest party, the Democratic Unionist Party – remain opposed to changing the law.<\/p>\n The NICHR had argued that the current law subjects women to “inhuman and degrading” treatment, causing “physical and mental torture,” in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).<\/p>\n Lord Kerr said that, by a majority of five to two: “The court has expressed the clear view that the law of Northern Ireland on abortion is incompatible with article 8 of the Convention in relation to cases of fatal foetal abnormality and by a majority of four to three that it is also incompatible with that article in cases of rape and incest”.<\/p>\n He added that while this was not a binding decision, “it must nevertheless be worthy of close consideration by those” who decide the law.<\/p>\n Any change in the law will now be up to the politicians, either in Belfast or Westminster.<\/p>\n Northern Ireland has been without an executive since January 2017, when the governing parties – the DUP and Sinn F\u00e9in – split in a bitter row over a\u00a0flawed green energy scheme.<\/a><\/p>\n Prime Minister Theresa May has previously said that a government in Northern Ireland should deal with the issue.<\/p>\n Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley, responding to an urgent question in the House of Commons, said the government is “carefully considering” the judgement.<\/p>\n “The analysis and comments from the court on the issue of incompatibility will be clearly heard by this house and politicians in Northern Ireland,” she said.<\/p>\n Les Allamby, from NIHRC, said it was “disappointed” at the ruling but that it fell to the UK government to change Northern Ireland’s law “without delay”.<\/p>\n Grainne Taggart, from Amnesty International, said the ruling was a “very important and long overdue vindication of women’s rights in Northern Ireland”.<\/p>\n “All eyes are now on Theresa May and her government. She cannot allow women in Northern Ireland to suffer on her watch,” she added.<\/p>\n Fellow campaigner Sarah Ewart said she was “extremely relieved that the court recognised there has been a breach of human rights for women who go through a situation of a fatal foetal abnormality”.<\/p>\n Ms Ewart has campaigned for a change to Northern Ireland’s law in cases of fatal foetal abnormality<\/a>\u00a0after she travelled to England for an abortion in 2013 after being told her unborn child would not survive outside the womb.<\/p>\n Peter Lynas, from anti-abortion group Both Lives Matter said he welcomed the ruling and the recognition in the judgement that there is no right to abortion based on serious foetal malformation.<\/p>\n The case is the latest in a long line of legal challenges to Northern Ireland’s abortion law.<\/p>\n Figures released on Thursday morning show that\u00a0919 women travelled from Northern Ireland to England for an abortion last year<\/a>, a rise from 724 in 2016.<\/p>\n By Marie-Louise Connolly, BBC News NI health correspondent<\/strong><\/p>\n What a bizarre set of circumstances.<\/p>\n On the one hand, the case was dismissed while, on the other, a majority of Supreme Court judges said that Northern Ireland’s abortion law is not compatible with human rights.<\/p>\n So where does that leave Northern Ireland?<\/p>\n While the case’s dismissal means the government is not obliged to change the law, the seven judges have given a strong nod that reform is needed.<\/p>\n Is this a victory for those who want change? They would argue so, because a majority of judges said the state of the law is “deeply unsatisfactory”. Those are significant words.<\/p>\n However, those who argue the law should stay the same will take comfort that the majority of judges agreed the NIHRC didn’t have the right to bring the case.<\/p>\n While a clear-cut decision would have been welcomed, that hasn’t happened. For those at the heart of this – women and medics – the dilemma remains.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Timeline of NI abortion law challenges<\/h2>\n
\n
Analysis<\/h2>\n