“What is most saddening about this outcome is the impact it will have on women who are unsure, or worse, being pressured into having an abortion, denying them the ability to access help from peaceful pro-life volunteers when they need it most.”
Right To Life UK has said a public consultation on the bill showed that it was supported by only 13 out of 6,412 respondents.
The “buffer zone” bill was introduced by Green Party leader Clare Bailey on Sept. 13, 2021. Supporters of the bill were filmed cheering after the final vote.
The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 allow elective abortions up to 12 weeks of pregnancy; abortions up to 24 weeks in cases of risk to the mother’s physical or mental health; and abortion without time limit in cases of severe fetal impairment or fetal abnormality.
Previously, abortion was legally permitted in the region only if the mother’s life was at risk or if there was risk of long-term or permanent, serious damage to her mental or physical health.
Catholic bishops decried the regulations, approved by the British Parliament in London, as “an unjust law” imposed “without the consent of the people of Northern Ireland.”
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