AN ONLINE petition calling for charges to be dropped against a Belfast woman charged under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, has received over 17,000 signatures.
The woman in her thirties appeared at Belfast magistrates court on June 19 facing two charges of unlawfully procuring abortion pills for her teenage daughter.
The woman, who cannot be named to protect her daughter’s identity, is accused of procuring the drugs Mifepristone or Misoprostol, which can be used to induce a miscarriage.
The petition was set up by Alliance for Choice, who campaign for the extension of the 1967 Abortion Act to the North of Ireland.
Mara Clarke, Director of the Abortion Support Network, an organisation which supports women from across Ireland who travel to obtain abortions, told The Irish Post: "When you make abortion illegal, you don't stop it. You simply create two classes of women. Those who can afford the £400-£2,000 it costs to travel to England and pay privately for abortion and those who cannot.
“We've heard from women who have ingested chemicals, overdosed on medication, and attempted to crash their cars in attempts to self abort, and from families who have rationed food, skipped paying rent, sold off Christmas presents and gone to disreputable lenders to try and raise the fee.
"Many have been seeking information about reputable sources for early medical abortion pills. Putting women in jail for accessing pills online won't stop abortion, either. It will just mean women will try more dangerous methods."
The 1861 Offences Against the Person Act provides the foundation for the North of Ireland’s abortion law. It classifies abortion as a felony and makes it a criminal offence to have an unlawful abortion or to perform one.
Although the Act remains in force in Britain, women in England, Scotland and Wales can access legal abortions on the NHS under the 1967 Abortion Act.
Women from the North of Ireland are excluded from the Abortion Act, meaning many travel to other parts of Britain to pay for private abortions.
See the petition here.
