Letter from Civil Society in Northern Ireland

Dear Theresa May,

We are a group of civil society organisations and invested stakeholders from Northern Ireland. Looking to Ireland this weekend it is notable how much widespread support there is for a change in how women’s reproductive health is dealt with by the Irish people, and now it’s time for the UK Government to listen to the people of Northern Ireland.

We have all previously welcomed the funding from the Women and Equalities Department for access to terminations for Northern Irish people travelling to England, however this does not address your duties, as noted by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW):

“Westminster and NI authorities acknowledge the magnitude of the phenomenon and choose to export it to England where NI women travel to access abortions. The UK’s observations and interviews with NI authorities clarify the deliberate intention neither to decriminalise abortion nor to expand the grounds for legal abortion. Availability of abortion in other parts of the State party does not absolve it of its responsibility under the Convention to ensure accessibility in NI.”

CEDAW says thousands of women and girls in Northern Ireland are subjected to grave and systematic violations of rights through being compelled to either travel outside Northern Ireland to procure a legal abortion or to illegally self-administer abortion pills without legal recourse to emergency health services.

Many of your colleagues and members from the Democratic Unionist Party are commenting that the UK cannot act because abortion is a devolved matter, however there is no functioning devolved assembly in Northern Ireland. There has been no Executive in Northern Ireland since January 2017. Instead we have a political vacuum and no political accountability.

Also, even if there were a functioning devolved assembly the UK government is still obliged to remedy breaches of International Human Rights treaties, particularly with regard to CEDAW. Provision is made for this within the Northern Ireland Act. Where a devolved administration fails to uphold rights, the UK Ministers have the power to intervene to protect people from such gross discrimination.

We demand the Westminster government take urgent action to remedy these breaches of human rights, additionally we reject the suggestion of a referendum as this is neither required nor wanted. We note particularly that Sinn Fein fully supported the move to repeal the 8th amendment in Ireland and called also for Westminster to step in to legislate for Equal Marriage and an Irish Language Act. Whilst the DUP advocate for the status quo, we can refer to a number of public polls, where even DUP supporters show majority will for change to abortion access in Northern Ireland. The DUP have no specific mandate on abortion.

This year now leaves us 50 years behind, even one more would be too awful for too many.

Signed by:

Alliance for Choice Belfast - Emma Campbell and Kellie O'Dowd on behalf of our full membership
Alliance for Choice Derry - Becca Bor
Amnesty - Grainne Teggart
Association of Medical Students in Ireland - Hannah Gillespie
Belfast Feminist Network - Kellie Turtle and Emma Gallen
Belfast Metropolitan College Students' Union - Ryan McNally
BLM Northern Ireland Network for Racial Justice - Dr Chamindr Weerawardhana
Citizen, Activist, Actress - Bronagh Waugh
Consultant Surgeon, NHS - Eunice Mitford
Director of MA in Gender Studies, UCD - Ursula Barry
Doctors for Choice - Hayley Webb
Family Planning Association - Ruairi Rowan
Former NI Director of Marie Stopes International - Dawn Purvis
GMB - Denise Walker
London Irish Abortion Rights Campaign
Medical Students for Choice - Jill McManus
National University of Ireland - Jeannine Woods
Nexus - Cara Cash
Northern Ireland Human Rights Consortium - Helen Flynn
Northern Ireland Humanists - Boyd Sleator
Northern Ireland Women's European Parliament
NHS Doctor - Caoimhe Rice
NHS Doctor - Particia Moynihan
NHS GP - Katie Cairns
NHS Practitioner - Claire Sullivan
NUS-USI - Olivia Potter-Hughes
NUJ, Irish Executive Council - Kathryn Johnston
Outburst Director - Ruth McCarthy
Project Choice Queen's University Belfast - Rachel Watters
Queen Mary University of London School of Law - Paul Jennings
Queen's University Belfast Gender Network - Yassin Brunger
Queen's University Belfast - Karen Galway
The Rainbow Project
Rally for Choice - Elaine Crory and Fionnghuala nic Roibeaird
Reclaim the Agenda - Helen Crickard
Reclaim the Night - Danielle Roberts
Sibeal Feminist and Gender Studies Network - Aimee Walsh
Solidarity with Independent Women - Aishling Delay
Solidarity with Repeal - Fiona Ferguson
Strabane Pro-Choice - Grian Ní Dhaimhín
Trade Unionist - Taryn Trainor
University College London - Claire Browne
Ulster University - Goretti Horgan
Ulster University - Maeve O'Brien
Ulster Unveristy - Catherine O'Rourke
Ulster University Students' Unions - Kevin McStravock
University of Birmingham - Mairead Enright
UNISON - Patricia McKeown and Anne Speed
Youth Hostel Association NI - Annette Feldman
Women's Aid Foundation Northern Ireland - Jan Melia
Women's Resource and Development Agency - Anne McVicker