A mother and daughter travelled from Northern Ireland to England for an abortion are currently raising money to launch an appeal for the Northern Irish abortion rights with the European Court Of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Their compensation claim was rejected by the Supreme Court last month. The case is known as the ‘A and B’ case.
A and B are trying to raise £12,000 in order to be able to submit another application to the Supreme Court. The London-Ireland Abortion Rights complain are supporting the pair to reach their target by holding
in Central London.
In 2013, a young woman – ‘A’ who cannot be named for legal reasons due to her being 15 at the time and her mother ‘B’ travelled from Northern Ireland to England to have procedure done as it is illegal in Norther Ireland. In the past, women who travelled from Northern Ireland to England and Wales for an abortion had to pay for it privately.
The pair launched a case to claim compensation due to the procedure amounted to £1,000 including their travel and emotional distress from having to raise the money for the procedure and having to leave Northern Ireland to receive an abortion.
Although the Supreme Court and health security, Jeremy Hunt, stated they did not wish to extend NHS abortion services to Northern Irish women. The Queen’s speech on June 29TH stated that the government would now pay for the service for women from Northern Ireland to have an abortion in England. However, funding remains unknown. Campaigners are happy as it is a progressive step, but is it not a solution to the entire issue.
The lawyers who are representing A and B believe they potentially have a convincing case against Hunt’s argument.
The solicitor representing the pair, Angela Jackman, told BuzzFeed news that the Supreme Court’s ruling against A and B decided that it was a lawful act for Norther Irish women to have unequal abortion right, in comparison to the women in the rest of the UK.
Angela Jackman said that the campaign that was led by Labour MP, Stella Creasy to extend NHS abortion service was successful. However, there are still important issues that need to be addressed around Northern Irish women’s access to the procedure. She said, ‘What about travel expenses for low income women? What’s the position for women who might have health-related problems with their pregnancies – are they going to be able to access more complex procedures in NHS hospitals, as opposed to at private providers? That’s a real concern and has got to be clarified.’
You may also be interested in:
Women From Northern Ireland Will Now Be Able To Get Abortion On The NHS In England
Meet The Women Fighting For Abortion Rights In Northern Ireland
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.