Comments on: Abortion reform latest

By: Ellen

Ellen — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:48:47 +0000

Goretti,

Its not as if you dont get enough publicity!

BBC, UTV (British propaganda machines that they are, hey!) etc.. love you . I thought at one point last week that I was watching a reel of the Horgan/McCann show over and over again. Surely no other family gets so much exposure.

And still no one votes you in.

Oh dear. Can it be we see through you and your lies.

By: Yvette Doll

Yvette Doll — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:33:15 +0000

‘No one is “pro-abortion”.’

It is an absolute position, abortion for its own sake, it is simply not honest to pretend otherwise.

The pro-abortion people don’t stand on dignity, are we talking about the same people?

The FPA position is ideological, that’s there regardless of other considerations, which can be emotive, there are females from the 26 who come up as well.

If it is imposed, we may as well get rid of the assembly. There is no point having it.

Yvette Doll

By: Goretti Horgan

Goretti Horgan — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 23:46:33 +0000

IJP, ideally, we would like a much better, more modern law on abortion to apply here. One, for example, where the woman herself decided whether or not she has a right to an abortion – not one where she has to persuade two doctors of it. But, just read the latest lot of draft guidelines on abortion issued by the DHSSPSNI. These are completely insulting to women and suggest that the Taliban in Stormont do not see women as having the same right to basic healthcare as do men. The guidelines for which the consultation period has just ended will, in my opinion and in the opinion of some British ob/gyn consultants, will put women’s lives in danger. But even these guidelines – as restrictive as the law in Afghanistan, Iran, Bangladesh – are the subject of debate among the anti-choice lobby in Stormont. Some of them think it too liberal. In this situation, the only hope there is of abortion being available here for even the very ‘hardest’ of cases is if the 1967 Abortion Act is extended to this region.

By: IJP

IJP — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:13:52 +0000

Thanks Goretti.

I believe the key political point is in your final three sentences.

The fact is the law in NI does not stop abortions taking place, it merely serves to make them even more harrowing for the women involved.

That is why the law must be changed.

I’m not sure extension of the law as in GB is the best way, but in some ways that would serve those politicians who shirk their responsibility on this issue right.

No one is “pro-abortion”. But we must, at very least, ensure that women have access to the same information, counselling and health services as they have elsewhere in the UK. Anything else is a breach of rights and, more importantly in my view, a basic breach of dignity.

By: Goretti Horgan

Goretti Horgan — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:41:56 +0000

It’s true that the government do not support extension of the Abortion Act to NI; however,it’s been Labour Party policy going back to the 1980s and in opposition they all voted to extend. Now there is a large pro-choice majority in the House of Commons and it could pass even with all the Labour frontbenchers voting against (or more likely abstaining). Anyone who saw Hazel Blears discomfiture when asked about her voting intentions on Hearts and Minds can see the problem facing many Labour MPs, especially women like Blears, Harman, Hewitt etc who made their names as women’s rights activists and are now being asked to say they believe a woman’s right to choose is a fundamental right for women in Scotland, England and Wales but not NI. Some will abstain and that may lose us the vote but it is a free vote and many will vote with their consciences despite what Gordon Brown is saying to them. The key will be hearing from women and men here who explain the extent to which the political parties do NOT represent us on this issue. At least 80,000 women from here have had abortions in Britain. Surveys suggest that each involves up to 5 other people in making the decision. Do the maths, that’s a lot of people in a region that has only 1.7 million people.

By: Smasher Lagru

Smasher Lagru — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:16:15 +0000

This will not get through. The government don’t support it. The difference with Great Britain is that in 1967 Northern Ireland had its own parliament, Scotland and Wales didn’t.

By: monicaisveryquiet

monicaisveryquiet — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:03:39 +0000

Whats the position of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission on this?

By: Rory

Rory — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:07:07 +0000

Good! Harman’s neat ‘not giving an inch’ reply to Dodds is heartening. I really cannot envisage that the Commons would vote to deny to the women of Northern Ireland those services which are available elsewhere throughout the jurisdiction.

I can think of no reason why the religious sensibilities of the backwoodsmen of this small province should weigh any heavier than the religious sensibilities of the backwoodsmen of England, Scotland and Wales of which there is a plenitude and a vociferous one at that.