Northern Ireland Abortion Law Reform

by the Reproductive Health Law and Policy Advisory Group

This paper was conceived of as a way of bringing in robust academic evidence to the MPs in Westminster who may not have had to consider the issue of abortion in NI until now. We work very closely with these trusted institutions and we have also provided them with context and anecdotal evidence when necessary.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of Northern Ireland and abortion law reform. The briefing is particularly relevant to the current UK-wide decriminalisation debate, providing an analysis of the Northern Ireland context.

The Reproductive Health Law and Policy Advisory Group is a joint initiative between academics interested in reproductive health and rights. Its founding members are Dr Fiona Bloomer (Ulster University), Dr Kathryn McNeilly (QUB) and Dr Claire Pierson (University of Liverpool), all of whom have extensive research backgrounds in the area of law and policy pertaining to issues of reproductive health. The Advisory Group has been established to provide expertise and knowledge on policy and legal matters related to reproductive health; to facilitate discussions and knowledge transfer between academics, policy and lawmakers, health professionals and stakeholder groups; and to provide advice on legal and policy reform. reproductivehealthlawpolicy.wordpress.com