Northern Ireland’s highest court is to rule on whether the region’s restrictive abortion laws are in breach of the human rights of women and girls.

The court of appeal in Belfast will on Thursday determine if two high court rulings in 2015 and 2016 that ruled the existing abortion laws breached a woman’s right to a private life under European law can be upheld.



These were in cases involving women and girls who could not obtain the procedure in local hospitals in cases of fatal foetal abnormality or who had become pregnant through sexual crimes.



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. However, the Northern Ireland attorney general, John Larkin, and the Department of Justice appealed the judgment of the two previous high court decisions.

The case comes as there is renewed political focus on the issue in the light of the Democratic Unionist party’s deal with Theresa May. The DUP is vehemently opposed to reforming Northern Ireland’s abortion laws. It has joined forces with some Ulster Unionists and some members from the Social Democratic and Labour party in the Stormont parliament to vote against legislation aimed at allowing terminations in cases of fatal foetal abnormality and those made pregnant through rape or incest.

However, the DUP has not and will not try to incorporate promises of no abortion reform in any Westminster deals in its confidence and supply arrangement with the Conservative government.

One of the appellants in Thursday’s court of appeal hearing is Sarah Ewart, who was forced to travel to England for a termination. She was given a fatal foetal diagnosis but under the law was unable to get an abortion in a Northern Irish hospital.



Amnesty International is backing Ewart’s argument that denying her the right to have a termination in a hospital at home breached her human rights.



Grainne Teggart, Amnesty’s campaign manager in Northern Ireland, said: “A favourable ruling would be a hugely significant step towards ensuring the right to access abortion for women and girls who have been raped, are victims of incest or whose pregnancies have been given a fatal foetal diagnosis. It’s shameful that the courts have had to step in because politicians have repeatedly failed.

“The next urgent step must be a commitment from the UK government to prioritise bringing Northern Ireland’s abortion laws in line with international human rights standards, including the decriminalisation of abortion. While health and justice are devolved matters, the UK government is responsible for upholding human rights. A failure to do so would be a cruel betrayal of women.”



The original cases in the high court were taken by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, and Amnesty accompanied by Ewart.



Meanwhile, a mother and daughter from Northern Ireland have begun a crowd funding campaign to finance their case to challenge the region’s abortion laws in the European court of human rights.

The litigants, known as “A” and “B”, are seeking an initial £20,000 from crowd funding to cover initial costs in the European court.



Five years ago A was a 15-year-old who was forced to travel to England to terminate a pregnancy. It was a procedure her mother, known as B, had to arrange and pay for privately.



Afterwards, A and her mother challenged the NHS’s refusal to fund abortions for women from Northern Ireland.



In June the supreme court in London agreed that the current abortion regime discriminates against women resident in Northern Ireland yet A and B still lost their case.



Three judges voted in favour of the secretary of state for health, who had argued against the NHS funding abortions for women who travelled from Northern Ireland.



Angela Jackman, a partner at law firm Simpson Millar, which has represented A and B, said that while the NHS would look after women and girls from Northern Ireland who fell ill while in Britain the same health service would not fund terminations for them.



Jackman said: “Legal aid isn’t available to cover the costs of applying to the European court of human rights. We need support from the public and from the many charities who campaign for the rights of women to make this case a reality.



“The trauma experienced by women from Northern Ireland seeking abortion services in England is one which resonates with many charities, professionals and individuals who have shown their support to see this case heard before the highest court in Europe.”

