[Ann Winterton in the Chair] — Abortion Law (Northern Ireland)

Part of the debate – in Westminster Hall at 9:30 am on 15 July 2009.

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Photo of Martin Salter Martin Salter Labour, Reading West 9:30, 15 July 2009

I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention, which is in the spirit of my early-day motion 1754 and early-day motion 625 tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney, North and Stoke Newington. That is the least that the Government should do-I am giving away the conclusion of my speech-and I do not want to hear Ministers washing their hands of the matter by trying to farm it out elsewhere.

I shall give a short case study, and I am grateful to organisations in Northern Ireland for providing me with the information. Susan-the name has been changed-is 37 and is married with four children. She has found that she is pregnant with her family's fifth child. She has recently moved back to Northern Ireland after living abroad for many years, and lives in a rural area where she has not built up a strong support network of friends, so she feels isolated. She believes that having another child would place unbearable pressure on her, her husband and their children. Since her husband lost his job 10 months ago, the family have been reliant on benefits and have no other financial or family support. That makes it impossible for Susan to raise £2,000 or £2,500 even to travel to the mainland to secure an abortion.

A myth surrounding abortion in Northern Ireland is that people there do not support a woman's right to choose. A survey by the Family Planning Association in September 2008 showed that almost two thirds of people-62 per cent.-in Northern Ireland support abortion following rape and incest, but it seems that our politicians do not. Furthermore, in its submission to the UN committee on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland called for

"the same access to reproductive health care services and rights in Northern Ireland as are available in Great Britain".

It has been estimated that since the Abortion Act 1967 excluded Northern Ireland, about 70,000 women have travelled to England and overseas to have an abortion. For the past 40 years, women have voted with their feet.