This article discusses the strict laws against abortion in Northern Ireland and explores the increase in abortion cases in the country. It also examines the potential impact of legalizing abortion in Northern Ireland.
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Running head: ABORTION CASE INCREASE IN NORTHERN IRELAND1 Abortion Case Increase in North Ireland Name Professor Course Date
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ABORTION CASE INCREASE IN NORTHERN IRELAND2 Abortion Case Increase in North Ireland North Ireland (NI) which is part of the United Kingdom is one of the countries with the strictest laws against abortion. The country permits abortion only in cases that seek to preserve the life of a pregnant woman or the prevention of permanent damage to mental or physical health. Abortion following incest or rape or that follows fetal anomaly diagnosis is not allowed in the country. In UK, procuring an abortion against the law is considered a criminal offense and one is entitled to maximum penalty involving life imprisonment under the 1861 OAPA (offenses against persons act)(Gilmartin, & White, 2011). When UK formed the abortion act in 1967, making legal for all reasons of abortion in Wales, Scotland and England, the law was not adopted by Northern Ireland. However, despite the laws, Northern Ireland women still do have abortions. For those who do not fall under the legal abortion limit, they have two pathways to obtain care. These include; travelling to outside countries where abortion is legalized most probably England and access services from clinics or access abortion services through online telemedicine. If abortion was legalized in Northern Ireland, the number of abortions done in the country would increase(Bloomer, & Fegan, 2017). This aspect is supported by various reasons. Misoprostol and mifepristone get mailed to women homes to allow them carry out a medicationabortionontheirownbasedonthesupportandinstructionsofferedbythe telemedicine services. Due to the telemedicine abortion option, the number of women travelling to obtain care in Wales and England declined 5503 to 3992(Martin, 2012a).. At the same time, the number if women living in Northern Ireland who sought online telemedicine service for abortion on the WoW (women on web) increased tremendously by tripling from 548 to 1748. This means that instead of traveling outside the country, women opted for the online service.
ABORTION CASE INCREASE IN NORTHERN IRELAND3 Based on this high number of abortion care seekers, it tells one that legalizing abortion in the country increases the cases of people seeking the service among the Northern Ireland women. To prove that legalizing abortion in Northern Ireland would increase the level of abortion cases in the country, one needs to consider the number of women from the country that seek abortion care services in such countries as Wales and England. For instance, in 2017, the number of women who visited these countries and gave Northern Ireland’ specific addresses in the abortion clinics has increased tremendously. For example, the number increased in 2002 for the first time. The increase also improved in towards the end of 2017 when free abortion care became launched in the countries(Berer, 2017).Women from Northern Ireland visited the countries in large numbers to enjoy the free service. The NHS (National Health Service) made the services free especially for the women from Northern Ireland. Under the same organization, free abortion services were also made free by the Scottish people to favor the women who travelled to Scotland from Northern Ireland. Based on this change, it shows that if the women from Northern Ireland got the chance to access the services locally, the number of seekers would go up. Before the change was effected in England and Wales, many women from the country were seeking the services from Great Britain(Bloomer, & Fegan, 2014).This was the case for the women who sought besides abortion care, other forms of medical care in Great Britain. However, those freely seeking abortion services had to go for the free services in England and Wales. Yet, decreased travel translates into increase use of online telemedicine. The analysis of the data involving women from Northern Ireland, seeking services through online, especially on the WoW, shows that the trend is increasing. However, the number seemed to deteriorate by 3%
ABORTION CASE INCREASE IN NORTHERN IRELAND4 when the free abortion service policy changed(Martin, 2012b).This could have been attributed to the costs of travel and other barriers to the access of free service outside the NI. The other factor in support of the local increase of abortion in NI is based on the reasons for abortions in the first place. In Northern Ireland, the reasons for the increased number of abortion seekers vary significantly. As much as elective abortion is not possible in the country, doctors have to assess and certify an abortion case before it can be done. It must be certified that the heath or life of the pregnant mother or her children is in danger. Medical reasons are sought that make the care to be legally considered for a given case. Among the many reasons for a legal abortion, the main one is based on the fact that the pregnancy threatens the mental or physical life of the woman. This reason has become the defector response of an elective abortion in the country. In 2017 it became the statutory reason for more than 98% of all the abortion cases in the country(Sedgh, Singh, Henshaw, & Bankole, 2011). Based on this the number of abortion cases in the country are high in the country since in 2017 alone, 1% of the abortions were done to save the mother’s life. About 1% of the abortion cases done were legalized for the sake of benefitting already born children. At the same time about 2% of the cases done, that same year, they were based on fetal anomaly. From the look of things, regardless of the fact that there many other an accounted cases that do not fall under the three categories, the number of abortion cases in NI whether legally or illegally done seems to increase(Calhoun, 2013).In this case, if the country legalizes abortion all cases that go outside the country for the service would seek the services locally. There is also a high possibility of encouraging more unwanted pregnancies among the women that need to be aborted, especially when abortion gets legalized in the country. From the analysis, it can be noted that legalizing abortion in Northern Ireland would mean increased abortion cases due to the fact that the challenges of moving outside the country
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ABORTION CASE INCREASE IN NORTHERN IRELAND5 for the service are minimized. At the same time the money that is spend on the online telemedicine would be saved as the services would be cheaply and readily availed in local clinics.
ABORTION CASE INCREASE IN NORTHERN IRELAND6 References Berer, M. (2017). Abortion law and policy around the world: in search of decriminalization.Health and human rights,19(1), 13. Bloomer, F., & Fegan, E. (2014). Critiquing recent abortion law and policy in Northern Ireland.Critical Social Policy,34(1), 109-120. Bloomer, F., & Fegan, E. (2017). Critiquing recent abortion law and policy in Northern Ireland.Critical Social Policy,34(1), 109-120. Calhoun, B. (2013). The maternal mortality myth in the context of legalized abortion.The Linacre Quarterly,80(3), 264-276. Gilmartin, M., & White, A. (2011). Interrogating medical tourism: Ireland, abortion, and mobility rights.Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society,36(2), 275-280. Martin, A. K. (2012a).Abortion in the USA and the UK. Routledge. Martin, A. K. (2012b). Death of a nation: Transnationalism, bodies and abortion in late twentieth-century Ireland. InGender Ironies of Nationalism(pp. 79-102). Routledge. Sedgh, G., Singh, S., Henshaw, S. K., & Bankole, A. (2011). Legal abortion worldwide in 2008: levels and recent trends.Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health,43(3), 188-198.