BELFAST, Northern Ireland - A legal battle started on Wednesday in an attempt to give women in Northern Ireland "equal rights" to abortion facilities as women in other parts of the United Kingdom.
The Family Planning Association (FPA) is seeking leave for a judicial review at the High Court in Belfast, claiming health authorities are acting unlawfully in not providing an abortion service on demand.
The 1967 Abortion Act legalized the medical practice in England and Wales, but it was never introduced in Northern Ireland. Each year about 2,000 women cross the Irish Sea to have abortions in private clinics in Britain, says the FPA.
The FPA will attempt to convince the judge it has an arguable case. The judge can then order a full judicial review which would be likely to take place in the autumn. FPA director Audrey Simpson has told the BBC that, if successful, the challenge would give women "equal rights to reproductive health care services."
She said the challenge was "a major step," and was the first time that such an action had been taken.
CWN - Catholic World News
13. juni 2001