An International Insight: Access to Abortion
By Abbie Vauls
52 years. That’s how long it took before abortion was extended from the rest of the UK to Northern Ireland. Abortion was legalised in the UK in 1967, and only in 2019 did the landmark decriminalisation of this human right reach “our wee country”. Four years on, in 2023, we still don’t have access to abortion services. Why? Ask our Northern Irish Executive. Oh, sorry, you can’t – they haven’t bothered to form one yet.
The ‘Executive’ has done little to nothing to ensure women across NI have access to these newly promised services. Grainne Teggart, of Amnesty International, describes access to abortion services here as a mere “postcode lottery”. Women are still forced to travel, often as far as England. And, during a global pandemic when travel was impossible, women were left with no alternative but to continue with the pregnancy or take unsafe measures.
How does the rest of the world compare?
There has been international liberation of abortion access over the last two decades, even in some of the most conservative states. Even little Northern Ireland - a country that couldn’t be more backwards if it tried - has made some progress: albeit in legislation, not in practice. However, one crucial anomaly to the pattern has polarised the world from one extreme to the other on this topic of utmost importance: world hegemon, USA.
The overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 (the US legal case which established the constitutional right to abortion) polarised the world from one extreme to the other. Now, one in three women living in the “land of the free” do not have access to safe and legal abortions.
The influence of Roe v. Wade on other state’s abortion policies
Headline news in France this week announced that Macron would enshrine the right to abortion in the French constitution – the right will be “irreversible”. No one knows how to protest quite like the French do – and evidently, it often pays off (just not in the case of retirement reform). France was just one of many countries that experienced an eruption of opposition in the wake of Roe v. Wade. International outcry roared as women across the world mobilised to protest that the hegemonic example of USA would not be followed in their country. Lucky for those in France, their cries were heard. Women in France will now have their right constitutionally protected. The same cannot be said for their female counterparts in Poland.
Only three countries other than the US have tightened their laws on abortion: Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Poland. Polish women take to the streets waving EU flags, desperately advocating for their right to choose, following the Polish Constitutional Tribunal’s decision to rule out “foetal abnormalities” as grounds for an abortion, now rendering the practice only available in the highly restrictive cases of danger to the mother’s life, or if the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest.
Poland, the United Kingdom, and Finland are the only major European countries in which one cannot obtain an abortion upon request – there must be varying degrees of evidence to show the abortion is necessary.
There is also no doubt that access to abortion is restricted by much more than in which country you live – race, religion, and social class play a vital role in access to healthcare. There are even disparities to access within countries: for example, those living in rural areas will suffer under restrictions which allow abortion only under the approval of more than one doctor: doctors are less readily available in rural areas than in urban ones.
Abortion access has been increasingly liberalised, but there is the potential for the wake of Roe v. Wade to embolden pro-life support. Despite positive progression in availability, only 60% of women live in a place where abortion is legal. And regardless of legal status, abortions are taking place. The consequence of restricted access to abortions, as well as services that are not confidential and non-judgemental, is the 39,000 annual deaths that come from unsafe abortions being performed illegally.
It's time for the Northern Irish Executive to commission these services: abortion protected in law, and in practice.
Edited by Ruby Hegarty
Abbie Vauls is a contributor for The Scoop. She is in her final (fourth) year, and studies French and International Relations.