Following Fury Over America’s ‘Fetal Heartbeat’ Bills, The Cast Of Derry Girls Want To Remind Us That Abortion Is Still Illegal In Northern Ireland

The cast of Derry Girls might be hilariously funny - but they are also outspoken about women’s rights, particularly abortion in Northern Ireland. Following the ‘fetal heartbeat’ bills being passed in some American states - which outlaw abortion after six weeks, usually before most women find out they’re pregnant - actress Siobhan McSweeney has set a reminder that while women in the UK might be outraged by the abhorrent laws being set across the Atlantic, abortion is still forbidden a lot closer to home.

Siobhan, who plays the acerbic Sister Michael in the hit Channel 4 show, told Grazia before the Bafta TV Awards, 'I think it’s very easy to think something bad is happening over there, but it’s very hard to think it’s happening in your own backyard.' Unlike the rest of the UK, where women have been able to access abortion legally since 1967, abortion is illegal in Northern Ireland unless the mother’s life is at risk. In the Republic of Ireland, abortion was recently legalised following a referendum where people overwhelmingly supported the change, and earlier this year the neighbouring Isle of Man also overturned its longstanding ban on the procedure making the six counties of Northern Ireland the last place in the region where abortion is illegal.

‘Neglect and abandonment of women in healthcare is just one of many ways women in Northern Ireland have been abandoned,’ she added. ‘It’s great that people are outraged over what’s happening in America and [people] should continue to do something, but there should be no limit to people’s concern, and I would urge them to look at their own backyard.’

In February - along with Nicola Coughlan, who plays teenager Clare Devlin - Siobhan joined human rights charity Amnesty International’s march on Westminster, where 28 women with suitcases walked to represent the 28 women who travel from Northern Ireland to England to access an abortion every week.

Look below for the best looks from the TV Baftas Awards last night.