Earlier this year, following pressure from campaigners and Labour MPs, the Government announced that they would fund abortions for women traveling to England from Northern Ireland where the procedure is illegal in nearly all circumstances. Today, the details of how this will work in practice were released.
The announcement came shortly after the Government announced their deal with Northern Ireland’s DUP. In the wake of this, Labour MP Stella Creasy put forward a motion in June to allow women from Northern Ireland to access abortion services for free in the rest of the UK. Pre-empting a vote in the Commons, the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, announced that funding would be made available despite the fact that Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, had refused to do so only weeks before.
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The 1967 Abortion Act, which made abortion legal in England, Scotland and Wales has never been extended to Northern Ireland despite calls from the United Nations and Amnesty International for Northern Irish women to be afforded the same rights as women elsewhere in Britain.
It’s not known exactly how many women travel from Northern Ireland to England, Scotland and even further afield to Amsterdam in order to access abortion services. Estimates range from 700 to over a thousand. The need to travel to access vital healthcare services particularly hurts those on low incomes, as The Debrief reported earlier this yearbecause travel and treatment can cost as much as £1,000 and, in some cases, more.
Today’s announcement that the government would fund abortions for these women was welcomed by a coalition of the London-Irish Abortion Rights Campaign, Abortion Support Network, Alliance for Choice, Amnesty International UK, the Family Planning Association, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, Marie Stopes UK and Stella Creasy MP.
It's worth noting that the Government in Westminster has made it clear that they have not and do not intend to interfere with abortion law in Northern Ireland, today's announcement only relates to funding for Northern Irish women who have traveled to England. In a written statement, Justine Greening, Minister for Equalities, said:
‘We intend that women from Northern Ireland will access the service through existing providers of abortions in England, in the same way that women in England do. We have invited providers of abortions in England to apply for funding to extend their service provision to women from Northern Ireland. The funding will be accessed via a grant scheme that will be administered by the Department of Health. The cost of this service will be met by the Government Equalities Office with additional funding provided by HM Treasury. A small number of procedures will continue to be provided through the NHS where this is necessary for medical reasons. NHS providers will also be reimbursed by the Department of Health.’
‘Women from Northern Ireland seeking medical support in England will be eligible for:
•A consultation with an abortion provider in England, including an assessment of whether the legal grounds for an abortion are met;
•The abortion procedure;
•HIV or sexually transmitted infection testing as appropriate;
•An offer of contraception from the abortion provider; and
•Support with travel costs if the woman meets financial hardship criteria.’
‘This is comparable with the service that women in England receive. We are establishing a central booking service that will be run by one of the providers who will be selected as part of the grant award process.’
It is expected that the booking system will be up and running by the end of the year. In the meantime, Greening said, women who make their own arrangements with providers in England will not be charged.
Responding to the announcement, Stella Creasy MP said: 'It has been a shame on our country for too long that women in Northern Ireland were denied their basic human right to control what happens to their own bodies - today we took a step forward in addressing that injustice, with a scheme that will give them support to come to England for healthcare assistance and I want to thank all those involved in making that happen for their work bringing this proposal to reality. But today we also pledge to keep standing with them until they have equal access to abortion services in Northern Ireland itself - our sisters need to have their human rights to be upheld and we won't give up until they have so.'
Women and pregnant people who need information and support can call the FPA's helpline in Northern Ireland on 0345 122 8687. Or those with financial need can contact the Abortion Support Network for help on 07897611593
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.