Published: October 19th 2008 - at 3:40 pm

The government is accused of denying abortion rights to women in Northern Ireland as part of a deal to secure support for the controversial 42-day detention Bill.

Campaigners claim that ministers are planning to thwart a bid to extend abortion rights by stopping a pro-choice amendment when the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill is debated in parliament next week. ‘There are strong suggestions that the debating time will be reduced and stooges put in to ensure that the pro-choice amendments do not make it into the final Bill,’ said Anne-Marie O’Reilly, a spokesperson for activist group Feminist Fightback.

‘News emerged today of plans to table a programming motion which would mean the Northern Ireland amendment will only be read at the end of the debate on Wednesday. The Government is also encouraging some MPs to filibuster the debate to ensure the abortion amendments are never heard,’ said a source within parliament.

John MacDonnell MP said, ‘Myself and many others believe that a deal was done with the DUP to suppress the extension of abortion rights to Northern Ireland in return for their votes on the terrorism bill.’

‘The Government was desperate to get the bill through and was willing to offer anything,’ he said.

At the height of the controversy over the 42 days legislation, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland sent a letter to Stormont promising ‘our assurance that we have no plans to amend the law on abortion to include Northern Ireland.’

Women in Northern Ireland have never had the right to legal abortion, although the practice has been legal in the rest of the UK for forty years. They are currently obliged to travel to England to terminate unwanted pregnancy at huge emotional and financial cost.

In June, Emily Thornberry MP was pressured to withdraw her amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill calling for an extension of abortion rights to Northern Ireland. Shortly afterwards, all nine DUP members voted in favour of the 42 days legislation, which was passed by precisely nine votes.

The Northern Ireland amendment was tabled again by a group of pro-choice MPs ahead of the Bill’s third reading on Tuesday. However, with the Stormont executive close to collapse, ministers are now being warned that the amendment could tip the province’s politicians into withdrawing from negotiations. Diane Abbott MP was dismissive of the government’s threats. ‘Women’s bodies aren’t bargaining chips,’ she said. ‘It’s time to call their bluff.’

‘“I am appalled that the Government would consider underhand tactics to prevent these important amendments from being heard and voted on. This is the first opportunity to alter the abortion laws in 18 years,’ said Abbott yesterday. ‘The UK Government is not supposed to condone censorship and I will do everything in my power to make sure these amendments are heard.”

‘If you’re afraid of being colonialist by overriding Stormont, please, forget it – we need our human rights,’ Dr Audrey Simpson of the Northern Irish Family Planning Association told MPs.

About the author
Laurie Penny is a regular contributor to Liberal Conspiracy. She is a journalist, blogger and feminist activist. She is Features Assistant at the Morning Star, and blogs at Penny Red and for Red Pepper magazine.
· Other posts by Laurie Penny


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