The High Court in London ruled at the end of last week that women from the British province of Northern Ireland can no longer travel to the UK mainland to obtain abortions under the taxpayer funded NHS (National Health Service).
Northern Ireland is the British part of Ireland (a point that has been contested to the point of terrorism) and its subjects are citizens of the UK. However local laws tend to mirror those in the Republic of Ireland to the south within the scope allowed by Westminster.
Hence abortion is highly restricted throughout Ireland! But young women in the past have travelled to the UK mainland – typically Liverpool (the closest) and London (the most flights) to have their ‘procedures’ carried out under the NHS.
However the court ruling will severely curtail this as it was ruled that the 1967 Abortion Act specifically does not apply to Northern Ireland and as a result its residents cannot travel to other parts of the UK to be treated under the NHS for something they cannot obtain at home.
According to the Christian Institute Mr Justice King said the Health Secretary’s duty to promote a comprehensive health service in England did not extend “to persons who are ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland”. He said that the differences in the law between England and Northern Ireland had “not surprisingly led to a steady stream” of women travelling to England wanting abortions. The plaintiffs – a mother and her 15 year old daughter – plan to go to the Court of Appeal.
The policy to this point, as the Judge said, has produced a steady stream of women travelling to get a free procedure. Pro-abortion forces funded in part by Planned Parenthood (read - American tax dollars) claim the number is 1000 per year and have been known to pay for ferry trips to get girls to Liverpool as well as subsidize flight costs. The NHS records however suggest the number is over 4000 with some believing the actual number is over 7000 per year.
Dawn Purvis, director of Marie Stopes Northern Ireland, a major pro-choice activist network said: "We are hugely disappointed that the women of Northern Ireland, who are citizens of the UK, remain unable to access the same services from the NHS as their mainland counterparts. The added layer of stress involved in finding the money to travel and pay for treatment can be crippling, making an already difficult situation for a woman that much tougher. We will continue to support women in Northern Ireland concerned about an unplanned pregnancy through our Belfast clinic, our UK clinic network, and through discounting fees for anyone having to travel to the mainland."
Marie Stopes is one organization claiming the abortion figures are only at 1000. What they fail to mention is that they skirt existing law in Northern Ireland by offering ‘medical abortions’ – an induced miscarriage - in Belfast and Dublin for £430.
These abortions, available only between 6-9 weeks, are supposed to be restricted to women whose life is at immediate risk or where there is a risk of ‘real and serious’ long term or permanent damage to her physical or mental health. Yet the Marie Stopes website simply presents Belfast as another option to going to the UK, making no mention of the special requirements. One has to wonder how many desperate young girls they get in the door only to counsel them to do something else (after they’ve paid the initial £80).
Mara Clarke has founded the Abortion Support Network and provides the typical lefty lines of desperation for the Guardian. "Please help,” says her mythical character! “I've tried everything to try to miscarry. I've been drinking excessively, I've tried throwing myself downstairs and even tried to overdose. No one else knows and I'm completely on my own."
If abortion is a perfectly acceptable procedure why has she been drinking more and throwing herself downstairs? Why does nobody else know? Why not make it public that you’re pregnant and want to get an abortion?
Clarke continues “What would you do if the condom broke? If the morning-after pill wasn't available? It's 2014, and women in Northern Ireland are treated as second class citizens by their government and by the NHS.”
Amazingly these women find the money to fly to the mainland to get their procedure but can’t put up the money for proper contraception (Sandra Fluke anyone). Meanwhile the government in Northern Ireland, including the women, remained opposed to adopting UK abortion laws. The NHS meanwhile is simply following instructions.
Both sides of Ireland are looking at slight relaxation of the laws. Northern Ireland’s Justice Minister David Ford announced last year that he would consult on weakening the Province’s abortion laws to allow unborn babies with fatal abnormalities to be aborted. But pro-life activists even advocated caution here.
Peter Saunders of the Christian Medical Fellowship said: “Rather than leading to psychological well-being, termination of pregnancy for fetal disability is an emotionally traumatic major life event which leads to severe posttraumatic stress response and intense grief reactions that are still detectable some years later”.
Liam Gibson meanwhile, of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) in Northern Ireland, said: “The people and politicians of Northern Ireland have shown, time and time again, that they reject pro-abortion attempts to change Northern Ireland’s abortion law. I am confident that they will do so again”
The pro-choice forces simply want to promote abortion as a medical procedure. In reality it is the premature ending of one of the most fundamental things women were created by God to do. That women choose this brings grief and remorse that the ‘choicers’ are never going to tell them about.
For them it is a defiant ‘no God and no man is going to tell us what to do’. They are leading women away from their Creator's plan and destiny in a vain attempt to satisfy the anger they have with God, with Christianity, and with the men they were intended to be partners with.
