| From Unity, 27 February 2010 |
Abortion guidelines: Our bodies, our choiceby Lynda WalkerIn February the Northern Ireland Office announced that the “Abortion Guidelines” were being reissued but that two clauses will be omitted and re-drafted: counselling and conscientious objection. The date of this announcement just happened to coincide with a meeting being held that night organised by the Pro-Choice Society and Alliance for Choice.Since 2004, when the courts pronounced that in certain circumstances abortion was legal in Northern Ireland, various groups, including the two above-named, have been pushing for guidelines to be written for the protection of the medical profession, and the women who seek an abortion. Abortion law in Northern Ireland is based upon the Bourne judgement. In Britain in 1938 the Bourne judgement found in favour of an abortion performed on a fourteen-year old rape victim. Mr Justice Macnaghten said: “If the doctor is of the opinion, on reasonable grounds and with adequate knowledge, that the probable consequence of the continuance of the pregnancy will be to make the woman a physical or mental wreck, the jury are entitled to take the view that the doctor is operating for the purpose of preserving the life of the mother.” The implementation of this law is complicated. There is no requirement to give counselling to the woman; one doctor can decide if an abortion is needed; a woman may get an abortion depending on where she lives and who her doctor is. For example, in the Newry and Mourne area the Health Trust has decided not to offer abortion advice and to send a woman to England for a second opinion (paying the costs). It is also alleged that private clinics deal with “a lot of ‘well to do’ teenage girls who have period problems.” Breedagh Hughes (Royal College of Midwives) dealt with the situation of “conscientious objection” from the point of view of a trade union representative as well as a medical practitioner. She spoke about the need to change the law, to give a woman the right to choose, and the need also to protect her members. Under the Abortion Act (1967) in Britain a midwife has a right to opt out of assisting at an abortion, whereas there is no statute in Northern Ireland to allow her to do this. If a midwife opts out here she could lose her job. On the other hand, she can withdraw if she thinks that an illegal act is being committed. Audrey Simpson from the Family Planning Association said that counselling was the other clause that was removed from the guidelines. Regarding the guidelines, the judge questioned whether it was legal for the Family Planning Association to give out information about abortion availability. The speakers indicated that this judge seemed to be unaware of the law, and that the Well Woman Centres in the Republic had fought this issue. In addition, the government is hardly likely to fund the FPA if it is carrying out illegal actions. Audrey Simpson said the women who have abortions here may find that they have no counselling. “There are no records of discussion regarding directive or non-directive counselling.” Finally, the discussion came back to the need for law reform, and the hypocrisy of the British government was (yet again) illustrated when it issued a statement calling for the legalisation of abortion in Zimbabwe, Ghana, Tanzania and other African countries because it is “safer and it is a woman’s right.” With the police and justice issues in the hands of the Northern Ireland Assembly, abortion law reform is going to be hard (an understatement). What was emphasised is the need to speak out, to educate, and to fight the prejudice that affects more than two thousand women’s lives per year. |
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