An ode to my McWilliams Holdall
An ode to my McWilliams Holdall

Sarah Finnan

Business Club Member competition: Win a €400 voucher for fashion brand Kelly O’Rourke
Business Club Member competition: Win a €400 voucher for fashion brand Kelly O’Rourke

IMAGE

Brigid: The original female trailblazer
Brigid: The original female trailblazer

Amanda Cassidy

3 pioneering sustainable businesses to visit and support this month
3 pioneering sustainable businesses to visit and support this month

Jo Linehan

Jimmy Choo’s latest bridal edit has arrived
Jimmy Choo’s latest bridal edit has arrived

Shayna Sappington

An ode to one of life’s great joys: the humble little treat
An ode to one of life’s great joys: the humble little treat

Alex O Neill

This Wicklow home is full of rich colours and luxurious finishes
This Wicklow home is full of rich colours and luxurious finishes

Megan Burns

Page Turners: ‘Confessions’ author Catherine Airey
Page Turners: ‘Confessions’ author Catherine Airey

Sarah Gill

Sarah Macken: A week in my wardrobe
Sarah Macken: A week in my wardrobe

Sarah Finnan

Real Weddings: Lucy and Matt’s utterly unique nuptials in Co Donegal
Real Weddings: Lucy and Matt’s utterly unique nuptials in Co Donegal

Edaein OConnell

Image / Editorial

MPs vote to extend abortion rights and same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland


By Jennifer McShane
09th Jul 2019
MPs vote to extend abortion rights and same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland

Currently, in Northern Ireland, any termination of a pregnancy is illegal, with any person found to have broken it risking life imprisonment. Extenuating circumstances are only granted in the case that a woman’s mental or physical health is deemed at risk but this is rarely exercised – according to statistics, in 2016/17, only 13 legal abortions were carried out in the entire country.

All that could be about to change as on Tuesday, after years of public activism, MPs at Westminster have voted overwhelmingly to extend same-sex marriage and abortion rights to Northern Ireland.

They voted by 383 to 73, a majority of 310, to introduce same-sex marriage by October 21st unless power-sharing talks lead to the restoration of the Assembly and the Executive before then.

“A violation of the human rights of women”

They voted by 332 to 99, a majority of 233, to implement a United Nations report that said the lack of abortion rights was a “violation of the human rights of women in Northern Ireland.” Labour MP Stella Creasy has long worked to have this law changed.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by bpas (@bpas_1968) on

Northern Ireland minister John Penrose said the government would act on both votes.

“This House has failed LGBT people in Northern Ireland before. It failed a generation of people in Northern Ireland by not decriminalising homosexuality and condemned them to discrimination, to abuse and to living in fear many years after that stopped being the case in the rest of the UK.

“It failed people in Northern Ireland by not extending same-sex marriage when it became the law here, making people in NI less valued than the rest of us. Tonight we have a chance to do the right thing,” said Conor McGinn, who tabled the marriage equality amendment.

Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where same-sex marriage is not legal.

Main photograph: Unsplash


More like this:

Related: Mother in Northern Ireland prosecuted for buying abortion pills for daughter

Related: Netflix says it will ‘rethink’ filming shows in Georgia if controversial abortion bill is passed