Northern Ireland police raided premises searching for abortion pills

The Police Service of Northern Ireland raided two premises on International Women’s Day searching for abortion pills that are illegal in the region.

No pills were found during searches last week, including one at a workshop belonging to Belfast pro-choice campaigner Helen Crickard. Crickard said she felt “violated and humiliated” over the raids on her premises in South Belfast.

The PSNI confirmed on Monday that the raids had taken place. Det Supt Bobby Singleton stressed that abortion was a “sensitive issue that divides opinion within society”.

However, Singleton added that where an offence has been committed, the PSNI had a duty to bring offenders to justice.

Unlike the rest of the UK, doctors cannot prescribe abortion pills in Northern Ireland.

Singleton said: “Offences of procurement of an abortion are outlined in Sections 58 & 59 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 and Child Destruction Sect 25 (1) Criminal Justice (NI) Act.

“These offences can reasonably be suspected in circumstances where persons order prescription medications which are known to be used or advertised as suitable for inducing an abortion.”

Last year three women handed themselves into a police station in Derry, stating they had procured and taken illegal abortion pills and requested that they be prosecuted, in protest at Northern Ireland’s restrictive abortion laws. Since then, pro-choice campaigners have continued to challenge the PSNI to arrest them after they admitted purchasing abortion pills for other women in Northern Ireland.

Also in 2016, a 21-year-old woman was given a suspended prison sentence for buying drugs online to induce a miscarriage. She had been reported by her flatmates after they found out she had taken the abortion pills leading to a termination.

A mother is also facing prosecution for procuring abortion pills for her then underage daughter who fell pregnant.

Women in Northern Ireland who want to terminate a pregnancy can either travel to England or Wales for an abortion at a cost of around £1,000-£2,000. Northern Ireland residents are not eligible for the procedure on the NHS and have to pay for private treatment, as well as the cost of the flight and hotels.

Alternatively women at an early stage of pregnancy can buy mifepristone and misoprostol pills online, for around £60; the pills are considered safe and reliable in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. As well as buying the pills on the internet, pro-choice campaigners have also flown the drugs into Northern Ireland via drones.

Northern Ireland police raided premises searching for abortion pills

Northern Irish woman was reported to police by GP over abortion pills

A Northern Irish woman who was prosecuted for obtaining abortion pills for her underage pregnant daughter was reported to police by a GP, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service has revealed.

Launching an information campaign in Northern Ireland aimed at helping women access safe abortion medication and follow-up services, the BPAS said that a climate of fear over such prosecutions was risking lives in the region.

Last week, the mother won the right to challenge the decision to prosecute her for procuring the abortion pills for her daughter, who was 15 at the time.

BPAS said cases such as these would deter women from seeking follow-up care when needed for fear that they will face criminal sanction.

The charity stressed that no healthcare professional is obliged to report anyone who accesses the abortion pills in the province. Despite this BPAS confirmed that it was a GP who reported the mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, over buying the abortion pills for her child.

In Northern Ireland, the maximum penalty for the crime of administering a drug to induce miscarriage under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 is life imprisonment.

Except in cases where there is a direct threat to a mother’s life, almost all abortions are banned in Northern Ireland’s hospitals.

Ann Furedi, BPAS chief executive, said: “We have launched this information campaign today not to encourage women to break the law but in recognition that this is happening. Northern Ireland’s strict abortion law means women determined to end a pregnancy but who cannot travel must turn to online pills. These women are no less deserving of follow-up care and support than the women we see in our clinics.

“Recent court proceedings have sent out a deeply worrying message – that women are not able to speak openly and honestly with their clinicians. Those who are driving the prosecutions have created a damaging climate of fear for women and those caring for them.”

Furedi said BPAS had launched a 24-hour information hotline to help women in Northern Ireland access safe abortion pills.

She said: “We know that there are women who are in need of care but afraid to access help. So today we want to send a clear message: if you have taken abortion pills and need advice, we are here for you, 24 hours a day, every day.”

Last year, pro-choice campaigners used a drone that was flown across the Irish Sea to deliver abortion pills to women in Northern Ireland.

In April last year, a 21-year-old woman received a one-year suspended sentence at Belfast crown court for procuring her own abortion by using a poison, and of supplying a poison with intent to procure a miscarriage. The court was told she had been arrested after her flatmates in Belfast reported her.

Two years ago, the UN’s human rights committee said the severe restrictions on terminations in the region were putting Northern Irish women’s lives at risk.

An estimated 2,000 women travel to English hospitals and clinics from Northern Ireland every year to have terminations. There is strong opposition to liberalising the province’s strict anti-abortion laws across the floor of the Northern Ireland assembly.

The 1967 Abortion Act was never extended to Northern Ireland and all the main local political parties oppose it.

Northern Irish woman was reported to police by GP over abortion pills

Anti-abortion report challenges law reform in Northern Ireland

A report by anti-abortion campaigners in Northern Ireland has claimed that 100,000 people were born in the region because the 1967 Abortion Act was never extended to the province.

The Both Lives Matter report published on Wednesday comes as the former justice minister in Northern Ireland confirmed this week that he will resubmit his private member’s bill in the next Stormont assembly calling on the new devolved parliament to legalise abortions in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities where the pregnancies are doomed.

Dawn McAvoy of Both Lives Matter said: “The debate around abortion is in danger of becoming polarised by those only concerned with the unborn child on the one hand and those solely concerned with the rights of the women on the other. The reality is that both lives matter.”

“There are people alive in Northern Ireland today who would not have been born if the 1967 Abortion Act had been introduced here. People we all know and love – spouses, children, friends and family.”

“We estimate that there are 100,000 people alive today, who would not be, had we introduced the 1967 Abortion Act.

The group’s report comes at a time when the battle lines are being redrawn over abortion in Northern Ireland, the only part of the UK where the procedure is banned in almost all circumstances except when there is a direct threat to the mother’s life.

Thousands of Northern Irish women are forced to travel across to England to terminate their pregnancies due to the near-total ban.

David Ford, the former leader of the cross-community Alliance Party, who was justice minister in the regional government before it collapsed on Monday, has vowed to continue to press for abortion reform.

He said that in the next parliament after the scheduled elections on 2 March, there would be another private members bill calling on assembly members to liberalise the near-total ban on abortion.

Ford said: “Should the people of South Antrim re-elect me to the position of their MLA, on my first day back I will go to the Speaker’s office and resubmit my bill, with a view to progressing it through the next assembly term.”

The Both Lives Matter campaign is being backed by the former police ombudsman in Northern Ireland Nuala O’Loan, who said extreme cases of crisis pregnancies were being used to push a pro-abortion agenda.

Lady O’Loan said: “There is an urgent requirement at a time when heart-rending cases are being extensively utilised by those seeking to diminish legal protection for the unborn, to be more focused on recognising and providing for the needs and care of both mother and child. ‘Both Lives Matter’ is an excellent response to that pressing need.”

The group has also won the support of economist Esmond Birnie, a former adviser to ex-first minister and Nobel peace prize winner David Trimble.

Both Lives Matters said it is a new collaborative movement of individuals and organisations seeking to reframe the abortion debate in Northern Ireland.

In 2015 a high court judge in Belfast ruled that Northern Ireland’s almost outright ban on abortion breaches the human rights of women and girls, including rape victims. The ruling is being challenged by the province’s attorney general John Larkin.

At least 1,000 women and girls from Northern Ireland travel to hospitals in Britain for terminations every year.For instance, official figures for 2013 suggest 800 Northern Irish pregnancies were terminated in Britain – although that number is regarded as an underestimate. Among the 800 was that of a 13-year-old who became pregnant through incest.

The only law applying to abortion in Northern Ireland is the Offences Against the Persons Act 1861, which contains a life sentence for anyone convicted of carrying out a termination even in cases of rape or incest.

Anti-abortion report challenges law reform in Northern Ireland

Sturgeon confirms Scottish talks on free abortions for Northern Irish women

Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed that the Scottish government is to explore how to allow Northern Irish women to obtain free access to abortions in Scotland’s NHS hospitals.

Scotland’s first minister, during a visit to Dublin on Tuesday, said that the Edinburgh devolved government would hold talks with the Scottish NHS that may enable women from Northern Ireland to have terminations for free on the health service.

Across the UK, the NHS has so far refused to pay for abortions for women from Northern Ireland who travel to Britain. The procedure is only available in Northern Ireland’s hospitals when the pregnancy poses a direct threat to the mother’s life. It is illegal in all other cases.

Last week. Patrick Harvie MSP, the leader of the Green party in the Scottish parliament, said it can cost between £400 and £2,000 for a woman from Northern Ireland to obtain an abortion at a private clinic in Britain.

The supreme court in London is considering an application from a Northern Irish teenager, who, as a 15-year-old, had to go to England to terminate a pregnancy. She is challenging the NHS’s refusal to fund abortions for women from Northern Ireland.

Sturgeon said: “I was asked a question specifically in parliament about the scenario where a woman from Northern Ireland chooses to access an abortion in Scotland and whether they should be charged for that or not.

“Now I said that we would explore that, so we are looking in terms of the process and will discuss with the NHS what would happen now routinely, and whether there are options to change that, to make the process safer for the women concerned.

“My view is that if a woman is going to access an abortion then the important thing is that it is as safe as possible … I am not putting a timescale on it but I will report back to parliament in due course.”

An estimated 2,000 women a year have to raise the money to travel to private English clinics and hospitals from Northern Ireland to have terminations.

However, there is strong opposition from both unionist and nationalist members of the Northern Ireland assembly to liberalising the province’s strict anti-abortion laws. The Abortion Act 1967 was never extended to Northern Ireland and an attempt to ease the law to include cases of fatal foetal abnormalities and pregnancy via sexual crime was rejected this year.

Sturgeon was speaking at an event organised by IBEC, the Irish employers’ organisation, on the second day of her official visit to Ireland. Later on Tuesday she will become the first leader of Scotland to address the Irish parliament when she will deliver a speech in its upper house, the Seanad.

Before her lunchtime speech, Sturgeon said she would press London to retain an open border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and this was central to her discussions with the British government over the impact of Brexit.

“It is absolutely essential to maintain an open border … It is important to emphasise the unique status of Ireland, the peace process and the Good Friday agreement, and keeping an open border. Out of all of the things that we no doubt find disagreements on in terms of Brexit – what does it mean and what paths the UK take – I would hope that something everybody in the UK and also in the European Union can agree on is that there has to be solutions found to avoid some of the implications of Brexit for the island of Ireland,” she said.

She also addressed what she called the “ill will” that exists between London and Brussels since the EU referendum.

Sturgeon said: “I don’t think ill will on this is inevitable but I think it will occur if the UK continues to display the kind of attitude towards this whole situation that it has been doing. But I don’t think ill will is inevitable and that is related to the issue of a plan. If the UK gets itself into a position that is clear, reasonable about what it’s trying to achieve then there may be scope to have a relatively harmonious process that delivers a compromise position.

“There is no plan at present and anyone who tries to suggest otherwise is just indulging in hope over reality. I think Whitehall has been discovering day by day just how complicated the whole situation is. Do I have confidence that there will be a coherent plan? As I say, the jury is out on that and it is still not highly clear to me how the UK gets from where it is now to having a clear consistent plan by the end of March.”

Sturgeon confirms Scottish talks on free abortions for Northern Irish women

Scotland’s offer to give abortions to Northern Irish women shames Stormont | Patrick Corrigan

Scotland and Northern Ireland are separated by just a few short miles of sea. But when it comes to access to abortion, they are divided by more than 150 years of history. While Scots women are able to access abortions on the same basis as their counterparts in England and Wales, Northern Irish women still face a near-total ban on the termination of pregnancy.

In 2014-15, only 16 women were able to have lawful abortions in Northern Ireland. By contrast, 833 Ulster women travelled to England or Wales and paid for terminations at private clinics. And despite being full and equal taxpayers, Northern Ireland-resident women have been barred from accessing free abortions in NHS hospitals in England, Wales and Scotland.

It was into this breach that Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, stepped last week when she told the Scottish parliament that she would explore the possibility of women and girls from Northern Ireland being able to access terminations through NHS Scotland. Her intervention has enraged the deeply conservative Democratic Unionist party (DUP), Northern Ireland’s largest party of government, but been welcomed by pro-choice and human rights campaigners in the region.

While healthcare has been a devolved matter in Scotland since the creation of the Scottish parliament, it was only in May this year that abortion law was handed over to Holyrood. It is against this backdrop that Sturgeon’s intervention has demonstrated leadership on behalf of Northern Irish women sorely lacking both at Stormont and Westminster. There is near unanimous support in the Holyrood parliament for keeping abortion provision for Scotland in line with the 1967 Abortion Act. The picture couldn’t be more different across the water.

As recently as February this year, the Northern Ireland assembly voted to keep the region’s abortion law as it is, refusing to legislate for abortion even in cases of rape, incest, or where the foetus has no chance of survival outside the womb. This was despite a Belfast high court finding, just two months previously, that Northern Ireland law breaches the European convention on human rights.

Meanwhile, the UK health secretary Jeremy Hunt has determined that the NHS in England must operate a residence-based system so that women who live in Northern Ireland are barred from accessing NHS abortion services in England, despite being UK citizens. This position is currently the subject of a legal challenge at the UK supreme court taken by a Northern Ireland teenager and her mother. They want women and girls from Northern Ireland to receive free abortions on the NHS in England.

The young woman at the centre of the case was 15 in 2012 when she and her mother travelled from Northern Ireland to Manchester and were asked to pay for a private termination. It is estimated that, with private clinic charges as well as the cost of travel and accommodation, a Northern Ireland woman needs to find anything between £400 and £2,000 to obtain a lawful abortion across the water in Britain – NHS care available for free to women in every other part of the UK.

Northern Ireland’s politicians are being left behind by the people

Stephen Cragg, who is acting as QC for the mother and daughter, told the supreme court at a hearing earlier this month that women and girls like his client are “second-class citizens” who “live in the UK, but – unlike all other women and girls in the UK – they are at risk of the most serious criminal penalty if they procure an abortion in their own area”.

In Northern Ireland, any woman or girl who has an abortion deemed unlawful is liable for prosecution and could face a sentence of up to life imprisonment. Earlier this year a woman who had induced her own miscarriage by taking abortion pills obtained over the internet was found guilty under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act and given a three-month suspended sentence. There are a number of other similar cases poised to come before the courts in Northern Ireland, including the prosecution of a mother who obtained the pills on behalf of her pregnant teenage daughter.

Despite all this, a majority of Northern Ireland’s politicians have set their face against reform. Comfortable in their self-designation as “pro-life”, they appear to be immune to criticism – even from the UN, whose human rights committee recently ruled that this part of the UK’s laws prohibiting and criminalising abortion constitute a human rights violation.

But, increasingly, Northern Ireland’s politicians are being left behind by the people. Independent polling published recently by Amnesty International showed that seven in 10 people want to see Northern Ireland’s harsh abortion laws changed, while more than half want to see abortion decriminalised altogether. The tens of thousands of people who are calling for abortion to be decriminalised also speak to that shift.

Sturgeon’s offer of possible help to Northern Irish women and girls should be a matter of deep embarrassment to ministers in Northern Ireland. Theresa May should match Sturgeon’s offer to stand up for Northern Irish women abandoned by their own politicians. When it comes to the human right to healthcare, lines on a map should be no barrier.

Scotland’s offer to give abortions to Northern Irish women shames Stormont | Patrick Corrigan

Nicola Sturgeon offers help to Northern Irish women seeking abortions

Nicola Sturgeon has told the Scottish parliament that the devolved government would explore the possibility of women from Northern Ireland obtaining terminations in Scotland’s health service for free.

Responding to a question from Green party MSP Patrick Harvie on Thursday, the first minister said: “I am happy to explore with the NHS what the situation is now in terms of the ability of women from Northern Ireland to access safe and legal abortion in NHS Scotland and whether any improvements can be made.

“Like Patrick Harvie, I believe that women should have the right to choose, within the limits that are currently set down in law, and that that right should be defended. When a woman opts to have an abortion – I stress that that is never, ever an easy decision for any woman – the procedure should be available in a safe and legal way.”

The health service has so far refused to pay for abortions for women from Northern Ireland who travel to Britain for terminations. The procedure is only available in Northern Ireland’s hospitals when there is a direct threat to the mother’s life if the pregnancy continues. In all other cases, it is illegal.

Harvie pointed out that women from Northern Ireland had to fund their own private terminations which can cost from £400 to £2,000.

He asked Sturgeon if she would “agree that the national health service in Scotland should be exploring what can be done to ensure that those women are able to access abortion in Scotland, if that is where they choose to travel to, without facing that kind of unacceptable financial barrier?”

The supreme court in London is currently considering an application from a Northern Irish teenager who, as a15-year-old, had to go to England to terminate a pregnancy. She is challenging the NHS’s refusal to fund abortions for women from Northern Ireland.

Amnesty International welcomed Sturgeon’s offer. Patrick Corrigan, its Northern Ireland programme director, said: “Given the utter human rights failure of Northern Ireland’s ministers to provide free, safe and legal abortion healthcare for women and girls here, we welcome the commitment of Scotland’s first minister to explore what can be done via NHS Scotland.

“The UN human rights committee recently ruled that Northern Ireland’s laws prohibiting and criminalising abortion constitute a human rights violation. The Scottish government could help lessen the harsh financial impact of that violation by allowing women from Northern Ireland to access abortions free of charge on the NHS.”

Corrigan said Sturgeon’s offer of help should not, however, allow Northern Irish politicians to do nothing on the question of abortion. “While this would be a welcome and helpful step, it is no substitute for the Northern Ireland executive putting its own house in order with respect to significant reform of our scandalous abortion laws,” he said.

“The fact that Scotland’s first minister is now exploring what she can do to help women and girls from Northern Ireland is an indictment of the failure of Northern Ireland own’s first minister, executive colleagues and the assembly.”

Last November, a high court judge ruled that Northern Ireland’s abortion laws violated the rights of women and girls in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities or where a pregnancy was the result of a sexual crime.

An estimated 2,000 women a year have to raise the money to travel to private English clinics and hospitals from Northern Ireland to have terminations.

However, there is strong opposition to liberalising the province’s strict anti-abortion laws across the floor of the Northern Ireland assembly. The 1967 Abortion Act was never extended to Northern Ireland and an attempt to ease the law to include cases of fatal foetal abnormalities and pregnancy via sexual crime was rejected earlier this year.

Nicola Sturgeon offers help to Northern Irish women seeking abortions

Northern Ireland woman takes NHS to court over abortion law

A Northern Irish teenager who as a fifteen year old had to go to England to terminate a pregnancy, is challenging the NHS’s refusal to fund abortions for women from the region in the supreme court on Wednesday.

The health service has so far refused to pay for abortions for women from Northern Ireland who travel to England for terminations.

The girl, identified as “A”, and her mother are appealing to the supreme court to force the NHS to fund abortions. Their lawyers have described the refusal to financially help women from Northern Ireland who are in crisis pregnancies as “perverse and unlawful”.

Abortion is only available in Northern Ireland’s hospitals when there is a direct threat to the mother’s life if the pregnancy continues. In all other cases abortion is illegal.

Last November, a high court judge ruled that, as it stands, Northern Ireland’s abortion laws violate the rights of women and girls in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities or where a pregnancy is the result of a sexual crime.

An estimated 2,000 women travel to English hospitals and clinics from Northern Ireland every year to have terminations. All of these women have to raise money to go to private clinics in England for abortions.

There is strong opposition to liberalising the province’s strict anti-abortion laws across the floor of the Northern Ireland assembly. The 1967 Abortion Act was never extended to Northern Ireland, and a bid to ease the country’s termination laws to include cases of fatal foetal abnormalities and pregnancy via sexual crime was rejected earlier this year.

In the supreme court on Wednesday judges will be told that in 2012, then 15-year old “A travelled to Manchester from Northern Ireland with her mother (B), where she paid £600 for an abortion, on top of £300 in travel costs.

They received charitable assistance from the Abortion Support Network in the sum of £400 without which they could not have afforded the treatment. A and B have since argued in the high court and court of appeal that the cost of the treatment should have been free for them as UK citizens, and that by not enacting this change, Jeremy Hunt, the secretary of state for health, has failed in his duty to make NHS procedures reasonably available.

Abortion in Northern Ireland: ‘Why don’t we trust women to make the right choice?’

Angela Jackman, a partner at law firm Simpson Millar, has been representing A & B throughout the legal process.

Jackman said: “For women in Northern Ireland who are pregnant and seek a termination, the status quo is almost unbearable. I believe the legal arguments of the secretary of State are perverse and contrary to its international obligations. Many women face the choice between an unlawful termination using dangerous and illegal pills, with the prospect of prosecution to follow, or a costly journey to England where they must pay privately for an abortion. For many women, those costs are prohibitive.”

She continued: “This is the end of a long and significant domestic journey. I am pleased that the issue is finally being given due consideration by the supreme court, the importance of which cannot be underestimated.”

The supreme court has recently granted six national charities the right to intervene in the A and B case.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service, the Family Planning Association, Alliance for Choice, Abortion Support Network, Birthright and the British Humanist Association have been granted permission to provide their perspectives on the issue in the supreme cCourt hearing.

Jackman added: “I am pleased that the court has permitted these six charities to provide submissions in this case. Through their efforts in providing advice and assistance to women like ‘A’, and campaigning for the reproductive choices of women, these charities can offer invaluable insight into the reality of the situation for the court’s consideration.”

The British Humanist Association’s director of public affairs and policy, Pavan Dhaliwal, said denying women from Northern Ireland in crisis pregnancies support was putting their lives at risk.

“Our government’s stance in refusing women from Northern Ireland safe and legal abortion on the NHS is shameful and we believe it is a breach of human rights laws. The supreme court judges have an opportunity to rectify a situation which currently causes undue distress to hundreds of women and leaves many more with no choice but to buy illegal abortion pills online,” he said.

The case will concern A and B versus the secretary of state for health. The arguments will be heard in front of five judges at the one-day hearing.

Northern Ireland woman takes NHS to court over abortion law

Three in five people in Northern Ireland want abortion decriminalised

Nearly 60% of people in Northern Ireland believe abortion in the province should be decriminalised, a new survey has found. When asked whether abortion should be permitted for victims of rape, and in cases where the foetus cannot survive outside the womb, three-quarters of those polled agreed.

Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where abortion is illegal, except in the limited circumstances where continuing a pregnancy would put the mother’s life in direct danger. The 1861 Offences Against the Persons Act, which makes abortion a criminal offence, is punishable by a life sentence in prison.

Attempts by individual members of the Northern Ireland assembly to introduce limited abortion reform in the Stormont parliament have been met by opposition from the biggest party, the Democratic Unionists, as well as members of the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour party.

The public attitudes survey was conducted last month by local pollsters Millward Brown on behalf of Amnesty International, which backs abortion reform in Northern Ireland. The polling of 1,000 adults, carried out in September, found:

• 72% of people think abortion should be available if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest; only 15% are opposed.

• 67% of people think abortion should be available in cases of fatal foetal abnormality; just 17% are opposed.

• 58% of people think abortion should be decriminalised so that there would be no criminal penalty for women who have abortions in Northern Ireland; 22% are opposed to this change.

• 59% of people think abortion should be decriminalised so there would be no criminal penalty for doctors and medical staff who assist women to have abortions in Northern Ireland; 21% are opposed to this change.

• 68% of people think the fact that in most cases abortion is classified as a crime in Northern Ireland adds to the distress of women seeking an abortion; 14% disagree.

• 75% of people think the fact that women from Northern Ireland who are seeking a lawful abortion must travel to Britain adds to their distress; 11% disagree.

Adrianne Peltz, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland campaigner, said the findings reflected how the people were ahead of politicians in terms of liberalising abortion laws.

“These poll findings demonstrate an overwhelming demand for change to Northern Ireland’s draconian abortion laws,” she said. “This is not a small margin of support for women’s access to abortion – it’s a definitive landslide. Northern Ireland has changed.

“Not only do a huge majority of people in Northern Ireland want to see abortion made available to women and girls in the tragic circumstances of rape, incest or fatal foetal diagnosis, but they also want to see abortion decriminalised for all women. It’s time for these outdated laws to be brought into the 21st century.

“Decisions about women’s bodies should be made by women themselves, never by politicians, who should be aware that voters from all parties – including those who have previously blocked change – want to see a radical overhaul of these inhumane laws.”

Last November, Northern Ireland’s high court ruled that the region’s restrictive abortion laws breached the European convention on human rights in cases of fatal foetal abnormality and where the pregnancy resulted from sexual assault. The Northern Ireland executive has appealed against the judgment and a decision from the court of appeal is pending.

In April this year, a 21-year-old Northern Irish woman was given a three-month suspended prison sentence after being found guilty of taking abortion pills to end her pregnancy. The court was told that the woman, aged 19 at the time of the offence, could not afford to travel to England to have a lawful abortion.

On Tuesday, Amnesty International activists will hand over a petition of more than 45,000 names to the Northern Ireland executive at Stormont calling for a loosening of anti-abortion laws in the region.

Three in five people in Northern Ireland want abortion decriminalised

Northern Ireland is happiest place in UK, finds wellbeing survey

Northern Ireland is the most contented region of the UK, while London is the most anxious and least satisfied, according to statistics on local wellbeing published on Tuesday.

It will be little comfort to stressed-out, dissatisfied Londoners that their overall satisfaction has improved faster than other parts of the country.

The survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which is part of the larger labour force survey with 158,000 respondents, asks people to rate out of 10 their overall satisfaction with their life, the extent to which they feel things they do are worthwhile, how happy they felt yesterday, and how anxious they felt the previous day. The national data, published in July, shows wellbeing has improved each year since 2011, but this masks regional differences.

These differences are not large, but taken together they paint a nuanced national picture. In Northern Ireland, for example, people ranked their life satisfaction at 7.85 out of 10 on average. In London this was 7.51. Londoners rated their own anxiety at 3.04 out of 10, while those in the West Midlands put it at 2.75. Those in Northern Ireland put their happiness at 7.70, while for those in the north-east it was 7.36.

The data includes almost every local authority, but sample sizes for many are very small, meaning comparing the regional picture is more reliable. The Northamptonshire town of Corby came bottom on life satisfaction and worthwhile measurements. However this was based on responses from 80 people.

In London ‘the very poor and extremely rich live within sight of one another’. Photograph: Photofusion/Rex Shutterstock

The national “wellbeing index” was one of David Cameron’s flagship policies when he entered Downing Street. “It’s time we admitted that there’s more to life than money and it’s time we focused not just on GDP but on GWB – general wellbeing,” he said, and ordered the ONS to start gathering data.

Annie Quick, who leads inequality and wellbeing work at the New Economics Foundation, a thinktank that has championed the gathering of such data, said London’s gloom may be understandable. “There are real challenges about living in cities,” she said. “Commuting is very bad for wellbeing: the long periods of time spent travelling to work are … bad for our families, and bad for community cohesion.”

The deeply unequal nature of London, where the very poor and extremely rich live within sight of one another, adds to dissatisfaction, she added.

But Northern Ireland’s apparent contentment has the experts confused – one press officer blurted out, “Really?” when the Guardian explained the ONS’s findings.

Quick said: “Northern Ireland is really interesting: if you go to Northern Ireland and talk to them, they are very surprised. We don’t have the answer.”

The local authority of Mid and East Antrim in Northern Ireland tops the table on “life satisfaction” and “worthwhile” measures and is second on the “happiness” measure. Its mayor, Audrey Wales, said she was delighted with the finding.

“Ensuring the good health and wellbeing of our citizens is a key strategic aim for Mid and East Antrim borough council and we are delighted that this survey shows that we are certainly going in the right direction.”

She added: “With a rich heritage and culture, our borough is a beautiful, welcoming and unique place with a huge offering for its citizens and visitors alike. What sets us apart is our strong community spirit and the diversity of our citizens.”

Quick said the things that affect wellbeing are well known: good-quality housing and environment, stable jobs, and functioning communities. Simply asking people how happy they feel incorporates these factors, she said, but “it’s a very sensitive measure that picks up all sorts of other things … The challenge is for local authorities to look at those things.”

Dawn Snape, a quality of life officer at the ONS, said: “We have seen personal wellbeing improving on a UK-wide basis over the past five years. But today’s data paints a richer picture, enabling people to explore what’s been happening in their local area.

“This will help individuals, communities and local authorities to look at wellbeing locally alongside other more traditional measures of progress.”

Quick said the UK is a “world leader” at gathering these statistics. But she added: “We need to embed this thinking into devolution debates: these are often focusing on maximising economic growth but building the economy is a means to an end. What could be more important than making sure we have good quality of life?”

Northern Ireland is happiest place in UK, finds wellbeing survey

Steve Bell on the high court abortion ruling for Northern Irish girls cartoon

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Steve Bell on the high court abortion ruling for Northern Irish girls cartoon

Northern Territory "passing the buck" on jailed Roseanne Fulton

Advocates for a mentally impaired female who has invested 18 months behind bars in Western Australia, regardless of never becoming convicted of a crime, say the Northern Territory government is trying to “pass the buck” on her situation.

Roseanne Fulton, who suffered from foetal alcohol syndrome, was charged with driving offences in Western Australia, but was found unfit to plead or encounter trial, and was passed into the care of the state’s Mentally Impaired Accused Evaluation Board.

It established that Fulton, 24, would be a danger to herself if released, and placed her in a Kalgoorlie prison till much more ideal accommodation could be identified.

Considering that her story was exposed by the ABC’s seven.thirty program, a petition to have Fulton placed in the care of disability support companies in Alice Springs had attracted near to 80,000 signatures.

On Thursday, the Northern Territory attorney-general, John Elferink, told The Guardian Australia Fulton’s case was not his government’s accountability.

“There are no extradition arrangements in between Western Australian and the Northern Territory for men and women who are primarily wards of the state,” he mentioned. “It’s up to Western Australia to release her.”

He repeated the feedback on the ABC’s Lateline program on Thursday evening.

But advocates for Fulton, such as her legal guardian, Ian Mckinlay, said Elferink’s comments had been “passing the buck”.

“She was positioned in Western Australia by the Northern Territory health division, and she remains an adult guardian client of the Northern Territory wellness minister, jointly with me,” Mckinlay stated. “So she’s directly beneath the guardianship of the Northern Territory minister for wellness.”

Fulton could not be transferred from her Kalgoorlie prison cell right up until West Australian authorities were convinced she would acquire proper help elsewhere.

Western Australia did not have any supported accommodation facilities suitable for her, which was why she remained in prison. Her advocates desired her moved closer to her house in Alice Springs, but the Northern Territory well being department had so far refused to offer you her supported accommodation.

“The Northern Territory wellness department is just saying no,” Mckinlay mentioned. “The overall health minister refuses to even talk about this situation with me. She has not responded to any requests.”

Fulton was previously promised a location in a safe care facility close to her house in Alice Springs, but the Northern Territory health division withdrew the supply, fearing she would be incompatible with some of the centre’s male clients.

The Aboriginal Disability Justice Campaign said as several as thirty indigenous Australians have been languishing in prison, regardless of in no way dealing with trial, due to the fact no alternative accommodation existed.

“Preventative detention would seem to have become the fall-back position for governments that are not ready to stage up to the plate and handle squarely and successfully the challenge of dealing with foetal alcohol syndrome disorder and psychological well being troubles in the neighborhood,” stated Patrick Keyzer, a law professor at Bond University.

“[State] governments are incarcerating individuals since they’ve failed to construct and fund safe psychiatric amenities,” he mentioned. “They need to have to construct and fund those facilities, and the commonwealth government, which has the energy to employ Australia’s worldwide human rights obligations into domestic law, must do exactly that.”

The chairman of Western Australia’s Mentally Impaired Accused Overview Board, Robert Cock, would not comment on certain cases, but said the board managed a quantity of men and women “whose care might … be much better managed in an additional jurisdiction, and actively seeks to facilitate their repatriation to that far more appropriate spot, but has no powers of compulsion to obtain that outcome”.

Meanwhile, Fulton remained in legal limbo, waiting on the West Australian and Northern Territory governments to uncover her a new house.

The Northern Territory health department was repeatedly contacted for comment.

Northern Territory "passing the buck" on jailed Roseanne Fulton