BY LUCY CAULKETT
Abortion legislation in Northern Ireland is in breach of human rights law, the Belfast High Court has ruled. Mr Justice Horner said women who were the victims of sexual crime and cases of fatal foetal abnormality were entitled to exemptions in the law. He said given that the issue was unlikely to be addressed by the Northern Ireland Executive in the foreseeable future, and that Northern Ireland citizens were entitled to “have their [European Convention on Human] rights protected by the courts”, the current legislation was in breach of their human rights
BREACH
Belfast High Court has ruled that the legislation that bans abortion in Northern Ireland is in breach of the Human Rights Act. Legislation in Northern Ireland has generally been influenced by the strong catholic beliefs in the land which considers it a sin to abort a child and deny the foetus its right to life. These laws overlooks the right of a woman to decide whether she is fit to raise a child and ignores the circumstances that may have led to her pregnancy.
The current stay of legal play there is that abortion is only legal where a woman’s life is at risk or where there is a permanent or serious risk to her mental or physical health. However,the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission have(NIHRC) brought the case to extend abortion to cases of serious foetal malformation, rape or incest.
The adjustment by the NIHRC makes plenty of sense and makes none sense of a law that fails to include circumstances of rape or incest. There can be no rational grounds on forcing a woman to have a child for a rapist, forcing her to relive the ordeal for the rest of her life. Such a woman would always remember with sorrow the violation of her person by an awful rapist every time she sets eyes on the child she should be loving and caring for. A system that forces a woman to bear the child of a rapist would be irresponsible and reckless-one in need of desperate remedy.
Incest is another sensible reason to permit abortion. Despite the ill judged decision for siblings or relatives to indulge in sexual activity, they should have the choice of terminating a pregnancy that will create far more problems than joy. It is also worth noting that there are relatives of the opposite sex that are not initially aware of the blood relationship but discover this after sexual activity has already taken place. This is why the current alteration of the law is most welcome in Belfast, and really should have been there a long time ago.
Attorney general for Northern Ireland , General John Larkin said he was ”profoundly disappointed” by the decision and considering the grounds for appeal. Well, most reasonable citizens of Northern Ireland, and the whole of the UK, would be disappointed in the disappointment of the Attorney general, whose views are clearly tainted and inconsiderate to the several plights of women not only in Northern Ireland but in the world. The view that abortion should be illegal is a value judgement, and it is amazing that in a democratic society they actually managed to pass this on as law.
It is perfectly understandable for those in a religious setting to oppose abortion, but to impose a personal view on the masses is consistent with the acts of a dictator! There are large swathes of individuals in Northern Ireland who do not subscribe to religious teachings, and they surely are entitled to their own opinion of how they want to lead their life. The prerogative of adults should never be undermined in a civil society, so the NIRC should be congratulated for their well considered change of the law.
