This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The supreme court will this week hear a case to overturn the restrictions on abortions in Northern Ireland on the grounds that the laws breach human rights.

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) failed at the court of appeal in June to convince judges that the rights of victims of sexual assault and women with fatal foetal abnormalities are violated because they cannot terminate their pregnancies in the country.

Abortion is illegal in almost all circumstances in Northern Ireland, except when there is a direct threat to the life of the mother if the pregnancy continues.

The supreme court will hear evidence from the UN human rights committee when the case begins on Tuesday. It is the first time an organisation rather than an individual has been granted the right to take a case to the final court of appeal in the UK.

Les Allamby, the chief commissioner of the NIHRC, said: “This case has the opportunity to bring about a real change to the law on termination of pregnancy in Northern Ireland.

“The commission began its legal challenge in 2015 as we want women and girls in Northern Ireland to have the choice of accessing a termination of pregnancy locally in circumstances of serious malformation of the foetus, rape or incest, without getting a criminal record or facing going to prison.”

Recognising how difficult it would be for a woman or girl to challenge the law in the circumstances covered by the case, the NIHRC took the case in its own name, Allamby said.

He added: “This case is of great significance in the UK and internationally, just four months after our appeal, the supreme court has granted an expedited hearing. An independent working group of the United Nations will also provide evidence to the court.

“This is extremely rare. Many others will also share their own experiences through the court hearings. We commend those who have come forward as we know it is not easy to tell such personal stories.”

Among the other organisations intervening in the supreme court case is Amnesty International.

In 2015 the Belfast high court ruled that Northern Ireland abortion law breached women’s rights, but that ruling was overturned in June 2017. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where abortion in almost all cases isillegal.

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The termination of pregnancy is available in Northern Ireland’s hospitals only if it is necessary to preserve a woman’s life. This includes where there is a risk of a serious and adverse effect on her physical or mental health which is long term or permanent.

Northern Ireland has the harshest criminal penalty for abortion of any country in Europe, with the potential for life imprisonment for anyone who unlawfully procures or performs a termination.

Sarah Ewart, whose first pregnancy was given a fatal foetal diagnosis, had to travel to England to terminate her pregnancy. She is an intervener alongside Amnesty International. Ewart will release a statement on the abortion ban outside the supreme court on Tuesday morning.

Opponents of abortion reform, including he Catholic bishops and a number of pro-life organisations, are also intervening in the case.

Last year more than 700 women from Northern Ireland travelled to clinics in Britain to terminate pregnancies.

A woman is being prosecuted in Northern Ireland for helping her 15-year-old daughter procure abortion pills online after a doctor at a clinic where she had sought advice from her GP reported her to the police.

Last year a woman was prosecuted for taking abortion pills after her flatmates reported her to the police.