EQUAL RIGHTS FOR PEOPLE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
LAST WEEK, THE EQUAL RIGHTS FOR PEOPLE IN NORTHERN IRELAND AMENDMENT TO THE NORTHERN IRELAND BILL, TABLED BY STELLA CREASY MP AND CONOR MCGINN MP, PASSED BY 207 TO 117.
THE EQUAL RIGHTS FOR PEOPLE IN NORTHERN IRELAND AMENDMENT REQUIRES THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR NORTHERN IRELAND TO ISSUE GUIDELINES TO CIVIL SERVANTS ABOUT HOW TO OPERATE GIVEN THAT LAWS RELATING TO ABORTION AND SAME-SEX MARRIAGE ARE IN BREACH OF HUMAN RIGHTS. THE AMENDMENT ALSO REQUIRES TO SECRETARY OF STATE TO REPORT TO PARLIAMENT EVERY 12 WEEKS ON HER PLANS TO ADDRESS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN NORTHERN IRELAND. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT STEP IN ENSURING THAT THE SECRETARY OF STATE IS ACCOUNTABLE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTHERN IRELAND.
WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
THE NORTHERN IRELAND BILL AND THE AMENDMENT (NOW KNOWN AS CLAUSE 4) WILL BE DEBATED IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS ON TUESDAY AND WE NEED TO ENSURE THAT MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS (PEERS) KNOW THAT SUPPORT FOR CLAUSE 4 IS STRONG.
WE KNOW THAT LORDS ARE RECEIVING EMAILS FROM PEOPLE OPPOSED TO ABORTION RIGHTS FOR WOMEN ENCOURAGING THEM TO VOTE DOWN THIS CLAUSE. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THEY HEAR THE SUPPORT THERE IS FOR THIS PROPOSAL TOO.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
WE’VE GOT A LIST OF PEERS THAT WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO EMAIL BELOW, AND SOME BULLET POINTS TO HELP YOU WRITE TO THEM. YOUR EMAIL DOES NOT NEED TO BE LONG OR DETAILED - WE JUST NEED TO MAKE SURE THEY KNOW THAT THERE IS SUPPORT FOR CLAUSE 4.
EMAIL - KEY POINTS
I'm emailing you as a member of the House of Lords to urge you to ensure Clause 4 of the NI Bill is retained for the following reasons….
Abortion is illegal in Northern Ireland even in cases of rape and incest
28 women a week travel from Northern Ireland to England and Wales for abortion every week.
Women in Northern Ireland needs access to healthcare without having to travel to England.
The Supreme Court has called the current law in Northern Ireland ‘untenable’ and in need of ‘radical reconsideration’
The UN has said that the law leaves women with ‘three deplorable options: (a) undergo a torturous experience of being compelled to carry a pregnancy to full term; (b) engage in illegal abortion and risk imprisonment and stigmatisation; or, (c) undertake a highly stressful journey outside NI to access a legal abortion.’
A Sky News poll showed 76% of people in Northern Ireland support equal marriage, with just 18% opposed (2018)
81% of DUP supporters think abortion should be legal in the Northern Irish equivalent of the British Social Attitudes poll 2016 poll
65% of people in Northern Ireland think abortion should be decriminalised and 66% think Westminster should act in the absence of the assembly in Amnesty poll (2018 poll)
Supporting this amendment is an opportunity to show that Westminster will not ignore its human rights obligations, whether internationally or on its doorstep, especially in the absence of the Assembly and will hold the Secretary of State to account for her actions on this matter. It therefore upholds the Good Friday Agreement which commits politicians in both the UK and Ireland to act to protect the human rights of the people of Northern Ireland.
There have been no Northern Ireland Ministers since March 2017.
Westminster must take action to ensure that human rights do not suffer as a result of this vacuum in the devolved settlement - it must be the role of the Secretary of State to take responsibility for the human rights of people in Northern Ireland in the absence of devolved Government as there is no other accountable body for this role.
In 2017, The Department of Health Termination of Pregnancy Statistics state that 13 abortions were carried out in Northern Ireland in 2017.
Between 2006 and 2015, the PSNI made 11 arrests related to illegal abortion. Between 2011 and 2016, five people were questioned and arrested for possession of abortifacients (drugs that induce abortion); one was given a suspended custodial sentence and two were given cautions.
There is an ongoing judicial review of the decision to prosecute a woman in Northern Ireland who bought pills online for her then 15 year old daughter who was in an abusive relationship.
LIST OF PEERS TO EMAIL
Please pick anyone from this list of 276 names...
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon ahmadt@parliament.uk
Baroness Altmann altmannr@parliament.uk
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom arbuthnotj@parliament.uk
Viscount Astor astorw@parliament.uk
Lord Astor of Hever astorjj@parliament.uk
Earl Attlee attleej@parliament.uk
Lord Baker of Dorking bakerk@parliament.uk
Lord Balfe richard.balfe@parliament.uk
Baroness Barran barrand@parliament.uk
Lord Bates batesm@parliament.uk
Baroness Berridge brotennoblej@parliament.uk
Lord Bethell bethellj@parliament.uk
Lord Black of Brentwood blackgv@parliament.uk
Lord Blackwell blackwelln@parliament.uk
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist bloomfieldo@parliament.uk
Lord Borwick borwickgr@parliament.uk
Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone bottomleyv@parliament.uk
Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth bournen@parliament.uk
Lord Bowness bownessp@parliament.uk
Lord Brabazon of Tara brabazoni@parliament.uk
Viscount Bridgeman bridgemanr@parliament.uk
Lord Bridges of Headley bridgesg@parliament.uk
Baroness Buscombe buscombep@parliament.uk
Baroness Byford byfordh@parliament.uk
Earl of Caithness caithness@parliament.uk
Lord Carrington of Fulham carringtonm@parliament.uk
Earl Cathcart cathcartc@parliament.uk
Lord Chadlington chadlingtonp@parliament.uk
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey chalkerl@parliament.uk
Lord Colwyn colwyna@parliament.uk
Lord Cooper of Windrush cooperac@parliament.uk
Lord Cope of Berkeley copej@parliament.uk
Earl of Courtown courtownp@parliament.uk
Lord Crathorne crathornej@parliament.uk
Baroness Cumberlege cumberlegej@parliament.uk
Lord de Mauley demauley@parliament.uk
Lord Dobbs dobbsm@parliament.uk
Earl of Dundee dundeea@parliament.uk
Lord Dunlop dunlopa@parliament.uk
Baroness Eaton eatonm@parliament.uk
Viscount Eccles ecclesj@parliament.uk
Baroness Eccles of Moulton ecclesd@parliament.uk
Lord Fairfax of Cameron fairfaxn@parliament.uk
Lord Farmer callans@parliament.uk
Baroness Finn finns@parliament.uk
Lord Flight flighth@parliament.uk
Baroness Fookes fookesj@parliament.uk
Lord Forsyth of Drumlean forsythm@parliament.uk
Lord Freeman freemanr@parliament.uk
Lord Freud freudd@parliament.uk
Lord Gardiner of Kimble gardinerj@parliament.uk
Baroness Gardner of Parkes gardnert@parliament.uk
Lord Geddes geddese@parliament.uk
Lord Lansley lansleya@parliament.uk
Lord Lawson of Blaby lawsonn@parliament.uk
Lord Lexden lexdena@parliament.uk
Earl of Lindsay lindsayj@parliament.uk
Earl of Liverpool liverpoole@parliament.uk
Lord Livingston of Parkhead livingstoni@parliament.uk
Marquess of Lothian lothianm@parliament.uk
Lord Lucas of Crudwell and Dingwall lucasr@parliament.uk
Lord Lupton luptonj@parliament.uk
Lord McColl of Dulwich mccolli@parliament.uk
Lord McInnes of Kilwinning mcinnesm@parliament.uk
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering mcintoshac@parliament.uk
Lord Mackay of Clashfern mackayjp@parliament.uk
Baroness Manzoor manzoorz@parliament.uk
Lord Marland marland@parliament.uk
Lord Marlesford marlesford@parliament.uk
Baroness Meyer meyerc@parliament.uk
Baroness Mone monem@parliament.uk
Duke of Montrose montrosej@parliament.uk
Baroness Morris of Bolton whitbycollinsa@parliament.uk
Baroness Neville-Jones nevillejonesp@parliament.uk
Baroness Neville-Rolfe nevillerolfel@parliament.uk
Baroness Newlove newloveh@parliament.uk
Baroness Noakes noakess@parliament.uk
Lord Northbrook northbrookf@parliament.uk
Lord Norton of Louth nortonp@parliament.uk
Baroness O'Cathain ocathaind@parliament.uk
Baroness Stedman-Scott stedmanscottd@parliament.uk
Baroness Stroud stroudp@parliament.uk
Lord Swinfen swinfenr@parliament.uk
Lord Taylor of Holbeach holgovernmentwhips@parliament.uk
Lord Tebbit tebbitn@parliament.uk
Lord Trefgarne trefgarned@parliament.uk
Viscount Trenchard trenchardh@parliament.uk
Lord True truen@parliament.uk
Lord Tugendhat tugendhatc@parliament.uk
Viscount Ullswater ullswatern@parliament.uk
Baroness Vere of Norbiton verec@parliament.uk
Baroness Verma vermas@parliament.uk
Lord Wakeham wakehamj@parliament.uk
Baroness Warsi warsis@parliament.uk
Lord Wei wein@parliament.uk
Duke of Wellington wellington@parliament.uk
Baroness Wilcox wilcoxj@parliament.uk
Baroness Williams of Trafford williamssb@parliament.uk
Lord Young of Cookham youngg@parliament.uk
Viscount Younger of Leckie youngerj@parliament.uk
Lord Gilbert of Panteg gilberts@parliament.uk
Lord Gold goldd@parliament.uk
Lord Hamilton of Epsom hamiltona@parliament.uk
Baroness Hanham hanhamj@parliament.uk
Baroness Harding of Winscombe hardingd@parliament.uk
Lord Henley henleyo@parliament.uk
Lord Higgins higginst@parliament.uk
Baroness Hodgson of Abinger hodgsonf@parliament.uk
Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts hodgsonr@parliament.uk
Lord Holmes of Richmond holmesc@parliament.uk
Baroness Hooper hooperg@parliament.uk
Lord Howard of Lympne howardm@parliament.uk
Lord Howard of Rising howardgr@parliament.uk
Earl Howe howef@parliament.uk
Lord Howell of Guildford howelld@parliament.uk
Lord Hunt of Wirral huntd@parliament.uk
Lord O'Shaughnessy oshaughnessyj@parliament.uk
Lord Patten of Barnes pattenc@parliament.uk
Baroness Pidding piddinge@parliament.uk
Lord Popat popatd@parliament.uk
Lord Rana ranad@parliament.uk
Lord Randall of Uxbridge randallj@parliament.uk
Baroness Rawlings rawlingspe@parliament.uk
Lord Ribeiro ribeirob@parliament.uk
Viscount Ridley ridleywm@parliament.uk
Lord Risby risbyr@parliament.uk
Lord Robathan robathana@parliament.uk
Lord Sassoon sassoonjm@parliament.uk
Baroness Sater satera@parliament.uk
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Earl of Selborne selbornejr@parliament.uk
Lord Selkirk of Douglas selkirkj@parliament.uk
Lord Selsdon selsdonm@parliament.uk
Lord Sheikh sheikhm@parliament.uk
Lord Sherbourne of Didsbury sherbournes@parliament.uk
Baroness Shields shieldsj@parliament.uk
Earl of Shrewsbury and Waterford shrewsburyc@parliament.uk
Lord Skelmersdale skelmersdaler@parliament.uk
Lord Aberdare aberdarea@parliament.uk
Lord Adebowale adebowalev@parliament.uk
Baroness Afshar afsharh@parliament.uk
Lord Ahmed ahmedn@parliament.uk
Lord Alton altond@parliament.uk
Baroness Amos amosv@parliament.uk
Lord Armstrong armstrongr@parliament.uk
Lord Berkeley berkeleym@parliament.uk
Lord Best best@parliament.uk
Lord Bhatia bhatiaa@parliament.uk
Lord Bichard m.bichard@btinternet.com
Lord Bilimoria bilimoria@parliament.uk
Lord Bird birdja@parliament.uk
Lord Birt gomesd@parliament.uk
Baroness Boothroyd boothroyd@parliament.uk
Lord Boswell boswellte@parliament.uk
Lord Boyce boycem@parliament.uk
Baroness Brown kingjb@parliament.uk
Baroness Bull bulld@parliament.uk
Lord Burns burnst@parliament.uk
Baroness Butler-Sloss butlerslosse@parliament.uk
Lord Cameron camerone@parliament.uk
Baroness Campbell campbelljs@parliament.uk
Lord Carlile carlilea@parliament.uk
Lord Carswell carswellr@parliament.uk
Lord Carter carterst@parliament.uk
Lord Chartres chartresr@parliament.uk
Bishop cottrells@parliament.uk
Lord Clancarty clancartyn@parliament.uk
Lord Colville colvillec@parliament.uk
Lord Cork and Orrery corkj@parliament.uk
Baroness Coussins coussinsj@parliament.uk
Bishop cocksworthc@parliament.uk
Baroness Cox coxc@parliament.uk
Lord Craig craigd@parliament.uk
Lord Craigavon craigavonj@parliament.uk
Lord Crisp crisp@parliament.uk
Lord Cromwell cromwellg@parliament.uk
Lord Curry curryd@parliament.uk
Lord Dannatt dannattr@parliament.uk
Lord Dear deargj@parliament.uk
Baroness Deech deechr@parliament.uk
Baroness D'Souza dsouzaf@parliament.uk
Lord Dykes dykesh@parliament.uk
Lord Elis-Thomas elisthomasd@parliament.uk
Bishop bishopofely@parliament.uk
Lord Erroll errollm@parliament.uk
Lord Fellowes fellowesr@parliament.uk
Lord Filkin filking@parliament.uk
Baroness Finlay finlayi@parliament.uk
Baroness Ford fordm@parliament.uk
Lord Freyberg freybergv@parliament.uk
Baroness Fritchie fritchiei@parliament.uk
Lord Kinnoull kinnoull@parliament.uk
Lord Krebs krebsj@parliament.uk
Lord Laming lamingh@parliament.uk
Bishop bainesn@parliament.uk
Lord Lester lestera@parliament.uk
Lord Lipsey lipseyd@parliament.uk
Lord Listowel listowelf@parliament.uk
Lord Lisvane lisvane@parliament.uk
Lord Loomba loombar@parliament.uk
Lord Low lowc@parliament.uk
Lord Lytton lyttonj@parliament.uk
Lord McFall hlseniordeputyspeaker@parliament.uk
Lord Mackenzie mackenzieb@parliament.uk
Lord Macpherson macphersonn@parliament.uk
Lady Mar marm@parliament.uk
Baroness Masham mashams@parliament.uk
Baroness Meacher meachermc@parliament.uk
Lord Mitchell mitchellp@parliament.uk
Lord Mogg moggj@parliament.uk
Baroness Morgan morgand@parliament.uk
Baroness Murphy murphyel@parliament.uk
Baroness Neuberger neubergerj@parliament.uk
Lord Oakeshott oakeshottm@parliament.uk
Lord O'Donnell odonnellg@parliament.uk
Lord Stair dalrymplej@parliament.uk
Baroness Stern sternvh@parliament.uk
Lord Stirrup stirrupg@parliament.uk
Lord Taylor taylorjdb@parliament.uk
Lord Thomas thomasjl@parliament.uk
Lord Thurlow thurlowr@parliament.uk
Baroness Tonge tongej@parliament.uk
Lord Trees treesa@parliament.uk
Lord Turnbull turnbulla@parliament.uk
Baroness Uddin uddinm@parliament.uk
Lord Vaux vaux@parliament.uk
Lord Walker walkermjd@parliament.uk
Lord Warner warnern@parliament.uk
Baroness Watkins watkinsm@parliament.uk
Lord Wilson wilsondc@parliament.uk
Bishop dakint@parliament.uk
Baroness Wolf wolfa@parliament.uk
Lord Woolf maggiestevenson@parliament.uk
Baroness Worthington worthingtonb@parliament.uk
Baroness Young younglo@parliament.uk
Lord Green greena@parliament.uk
Baroness Greenfield greenfieldsu@parliament.uk
Baroness Greengross greengrosss@parliament.uk
Lord Greenway greenwaya@parliament.uk
Baroness Grey-Thompson greythompsont@parliament.uk
Lord Hall halla@parliament.uk
Lord Hameed hameed@parliament.uk
Lord Hardie hardiera@parliament.uk
Lord Harries harriesr@parliament.uk
Lord Hastings hastingsm@parliament.uk
Baroness Hayman haymanh@parliament.uk
Lord Hennessy hennessyp@parliament.uk
Baroness Hollins hollinss@parliament.uk
Lord Hope hopejad@parliament.uk
Baroness Howarth howarthv@parliament.uk
Baroness Howe howee@parliament.uk
Lord Hylton hyltonr@parliament.uk
Lord Inglewood inglewoodw@parliament.uk
Lord Janvrin janvrinr@parliament.uk
Lord Jay jaymh@parliament.uk
Lord Kakkar kakkara@parliament.uk
Lord Kerslake kerslakeb@parliament.uk
Baroness Kidron kidronb@parliament.uk
Baroness O'Loan oloann@parliament.uk
Lord Ouseley ouseleyh@parliament.uk
Lord Oxburgh oxburghe@parliament.uk
Lord Palmer palmerad@parliament.uk
Lord Patel patelkk@parliament.uk
Bishop allisterd@parliament.uk
Bishop fostercrj@parliament.uk
Baroness Prashar prasharu@parliament.uk
Lord Ramsbotham ramsbothamd@parliament.uk
Lord Richards richardsd@parliament.uk
Baroness Richardson richardsonk@parliament.uk
Bishop langstaffj@parliament.uk
Lord Sacks sacksj@parliament.uk
Bishop smithab@parliament.uk
Lord St John stjohna@parliament.uk
Bishop holtamn@parliament.uk
Lord Sandwich sandwichj@parliament.uk
Lord Skidelsky skidelskyr@parliament.uk
THANK YOU