Abortion Rights Campaign extend our solidarity to our siblings in Alliance for Choice and to all those fighting for free, safe, legal, local abortion services across the Island of Ireland. 

We welcome the legal action taken by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission against the UK secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Department of Health Northern Ireland.   

Although Northern Ireland has, on paper, the most liberal abortion laws on the Island, the implementation of this law has been stymied by the repeated failure of the Department of Health to provide operational support to Northern Ireland’s Health Trusts. 

At the moment, only four out of five Health Trusts are offering early medical abortions and only up to 10 weeks. This is only happening because of the dedication of individual staff to provide the service. There is no abortion care between 10 and 12 weeks. No funding has been allocated to resource this service. Many people have been left with no option but to continue to travel, or purchase pills online, as if abortion had not been decriminalised.

The time for full provision of abortion care is long overdue.

Support Alliance for Choice here; write to Minister of Health Robin Swann here.