Analysis of Abortion Case Increase in Northern Ireland: A Report

This report provides an analysis of the increasing abortion cases in Northern Ireland, a region with some of the strictest abortion laws in the United Kingdom. The study explores the legal framework, which permits abortion only to save a pregnant woman's life or prevent permanent damage to her physical or mental health, and the impact of this framework. It also examines how women in Northern Ireland navigate these restrictions, including seeking care outside the country (primarily England) and utilizing online telemedicine services. The report highlights the potential impact of legalizing abortion in Northern Ireland, considering factors such as decreased travel, increased use of online services, and the varying reasons for seeking abortions, including medical necessity and fetal anomalies. The analysis suggests that legalization could lead to a rise in the number of abortion cases, as the barriers to accessing services are reduced, and the report concludes by emphasizing the interplay of legal restrictions, access to care, and the potential consequences of policy changes.

Running head: ABORTION CASE INCREASE IN NORTHERN IRELAND 1
Abortion Case Increase in North Ireland
Name
Professor
Course
Date

ABORTION CASE INCREASE IN NORTHERN IRELAND 2
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
medication abortion on their own based on the support and instructions offered by the
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 IRELAND 3
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 IRELAND 4
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

ABORTION CASE INCREASE IN NORTHERN IRELAND 5
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 IRELAND 6
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. In Gender 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.