The bill, introduced by Green Party leader Clare Bailey, passed its second reading on Oct. 12 by 58 votes to 29.
Precious Life, a pro-life group founded in Northern Ireland in 1997, said that the bill would infringe the rights to free assembly and free expression.
It said: “Alyson Kilpatrick’s weasel words were intentionally ambiguous and misleading. She told the Stormont health committee that abortion zones won’t prevent anyone from protesting elsewhere.”
“Only pro-life people outside an abortion center will be targeted as criminals and fined up to £2,500 [around $3,300]. But Alyson Kilpatrick claims this is an ‘appropriate balance.’”
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.
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