Caitlin protesting outside Downing Street in 2017 (Picture: Caitlin de Jode)

As someone who’d been working hard on the Yes campaign, the Irish referendum result was a pretty emotional moment.

MPs to debate reforming abortion laws in Northern Ireland

I felt immensely grateful that the people of Ireland had voted to finally trust the women in the country.

I was relieved that the campaign was over, and saddened by the fact the referendum had come too late to help those who suffered, or died, under the Eighth Amendment.

But as a Northern Irish woman, above all I felt tired, knowing how far we still have to go.


In Northern Ireland, rape, incest and fatal foetal abnormality are not legal grounds for terminating a pregnancy.



The abortion laws, which date from 1861, see three women a day travel to England or risk life in prison taking illegal abortion pills.



I grew up in Northern Ireland, and slowly discovered the ways in which the state curtailed my freedom; with whispered stories about the girls who were ‘off to Liverpool’, I was acutely aware of how easily I could be in their shoes.

Today, seeing Northern Irish politicians consistently block any attempts to liberalise the law, feels like a slap in the face — particularly after having watched the Republic of Ireland overwhelmingly vote for change.

How can we keep asking families to continue pregnancies until full term, even though they’ve received a diagnosis that their baby won’t survive outside the womb?

How can we tell women who’ve been raped, that if they seek to terminate their pregnancy, they face a longer prison sentence than their rapist?

How can we, at this very moment, be prosecuting the mother of a 15-year-old girl, simply for ordering the medication her daughter needed to end her unwanted pregnancy?

Polling in Northern Ireland shows consistent, widespread, cross-community support for liberalising abortion laws, but there hasn’t been a Legislative Assembly sitting in Belfast for over 18 months.

Caitlin campaigning during the Irish referendum (Picture: Caitlin de Jode)

And, given the lack of hope for the restoration of the devolved executive any time soon, it’s clear that politicians at Stormont will not be the architects of reform.

The people of Northern Ireland must look elsewhere for change.

In February 2018, the United Nations condemned the UK Government, saying that the current restrictions on abortion access in Northern Ireland constitute ‘grave’ and ‘systemic’ violations of women’s rights, and may amount to torture or degrading treatment.

It is the Prime Minister’s responsibility to uphold human rights across the UK, and with no devolved legislature in Belfast, Theresa May must act.

Repealing sections 58 and 59 of the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, as recommended by the United Nations, and supported by Stella Creasy and a cross-party group of MPs, would decriminalise abortion across the UK.

Far from interfering with devolution, this step forward would enable devolved governments to determine their own laws and regulations, while removing the risk of prosecution for those who take illegal abortion pills bought online.



This is crucial in Northern Ireland especially, where such pills are the only option for those unable to travel to England.



Some British MPs have called for a referendum on abortion in Northern Ireland, in direct contradiction to the wishes of local campaigners.

Whilst the Republic of Ireland had a constitutional ban on abortion that prohibited any reform without a referendum, this is emphatically not the case in Northern Ireland.

A referendum on abortion in Northern Ireland would be divisive, expensive, and wholly unnecessary.

The Republic of Ireland didn’t have a choice about the need to hold a referendum, but we do.

Today, please tell your MP to support Stella Creasy and the dozens of other MPs taking a stand to trust women.

Don’t ask the people of Northern Ireland to beg for human rights.

Don’t ask victims of rape, or families grieving the loss of a wanted pregnancy, to relive their trauma in the hope of winning votes.

Don’t force us to reveal personal stories of the difficult and lonely journeys we’ve made to England, to access the healthcare we’re denied at home.

The women of Northern Ireland cannot afford to wait.

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