Abortion and same-sex marriage are now legal in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland's highly restrictive abortion ban lifted at midnight on Monday after legislation was brought in by MPs at Westminster. Same-sex marriage was also legalised under the change to the law.
The historic law change marks the beginning of a new chapter in Northern Ireland, bringing to an end the country's 158-year-old restrictive abortion law. All criminal cases will be dropped — including one against a mother who faced prosecution for purchasing abortion pills for her 15-year-old daughter.
The momentous change comes after years of campaigning to extend abortion access to Northern Ireland in addition to the #NowForNI social media campaign.
Under a 1967 act, abortion is legal in England, Wales, and Scotland, but this piece of legislation does not extend to Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. Until this day, women in Northern Ireland faced up to life in prison for having an abortion. Under this near-blanket abortion ban, rape, incest, or fatal foetal abnormalities are not grounds for an abortion in Northern Ireland. Abortion is only legally allowed if the woman's life is at risk or if continuing with the pregnancy would cause permanent and serious damage to her mental or physical health.
In July 2019, MPs in the House of Commons voted to bring Northern Ireland's laws on same-sex marriage and abortion in line with the rest of the UK. The only thing that could prevent the law change was if Northern Ireland's devolved government at Stormont was restored by Oct. 21. There has been no devolved government in Northern Ireland since January 2017.
On Monday, members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) returned to Stormont for the first time in nearly three years to protest the change to the abortion law. But the anti-abortion protest ended up being entirely symbolic and devoid of political power.
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The politicians' bid to prevent the law from changing failed as they did not manage to establish an executive. Forming an executive would have required the support of left-wing Irish republican party Sinn Féin, which said it would not participate.
Until this moment, Northern Irish women seeking abortions were forced to travel overseas to England to obtain access to legal, safe abortions. Per NowForNI figures, nearly 1,000 women travelled overseas from Northern Ireland in 2017 to access abortion services.
Others who could not afford the airfare and additional expenditure resorted to buying abortion pills — such as WHO essential medicines mifepristone and misoprostol — and self-managing a termination without medical supervision, risking life imprisonment. Buying abortion pills and self-managing abortions is illegal everywhere in the UK, where abortion is only permitted in medically controlled environments.
In a statement, Grainne Teggart, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland campaign manager, said that "history will be made" at midnight on Oct. 21. "This is a hugely significant moment and the beginning of a new era for Northern Ireland — one in which we’re free from oppressive laws that have policed our bodies and healthcare," said Teggart.
"No longer will those experiencing crisis pregnancy, who need to access abortion, feel they need to conceal what they’re going through. People will be able to receive support from doctors, midwives and other healthcare professionals without fear of being reported to the police and prosecuted," she continued.
"Today is a huge victory for women’s rights"
In a statement emailed to Mashable, Cara Sanquest and Katherine Nesbitt of the London-Irish Abortion Rights Campaign said, "Today is a huge victory for women’s rights as Northern Ireland’s cruel abortion ban has been lifted."
"Abortion will be decriminalised, and women and girls will no longer fear going to prison for accessing basic healthcare," they added. "We are celebrating this milestone and we will continue to fight against any delays to provision of free, safe, legal and local abortion in Northern Ireland so that no one has to travel for abortion care."
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Stella Creasy, Labour and Co-Operative MP for Walthamstow, who proposed the amendment, said in a statement that this day "marks the first step in getting women in Northern Ireland equal rights with their counterparts in England and Wales."
"When it comes to being able to make decisions over their own bodies, women and girls in Northern Ireland will no longer be threatened with the criminal law," she added.
Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland Director, told Mashable via email the extension of same-sex marriage rights to Northern Ireland is "an incredible moment and a huge cause for celebration."
"Marriage equality in Northern Ireland is finally a reality," said Corrigan. "For more than five years, same-sex couples in the rest of the UK have been able to get married whilst this right has been denied to citizens in Northern Ireland."
"Today’s a day for the history books," he added.
It certainly is.
Topics Activism Health Social Good
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
