Pressure on Theresa May to shake up Northern Ireland abortion laws after Irish vote
2 min read
Theresa May is under mounting pressure to give MPs a free vote on overhauling Northern Ireland's tough anti-abortion laws after this weekend's historic referendum result in Ireland.
Two-thirds (66.4%) of Irish voters opted to repeal the country's constitutional ban on abortion in a nationwide referendum, a result hailed as a "quiet revolution" by Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.
The result has already sparked calls for change in Northern Ireland, where access to abortion is severely restricted, forcing many women to travel to England for terminations.
Women and Equalities Minister Penny Mordaunt yesterday declared her support for change, hailing the Irish result as a "hopeful one for Northern Ireland".
The Sunday Times reports that the senior Conservative now has the backing of her four predecessors in the job - Amber Rudd, Justine Greening, Nicky Morgan, and Maria Miller - to push for abortion liberalisation in Northern Ireland.
Their support puts the Prime Minister in an extremely difficult position as the traditionalist DUP - whose 10 MPs she relies on to keep her Commons majority - would oppose any such move.
A source told the paper: "Penny feels very strongly about this. She has campaigned to enable women to access services free of charge in the rest of the UK. She will be doing all she can to support these agendas."
More than 130 MPs are set to give their backing to an amendment to the Domestic Violence Bill from Labour MP Stella Creasy that would give women in Northern Ireland the same abortion rights as those in the rest of the UK.
Writing in the Sun on Sunday, Ms Creasy said: "It's good to see Cabinet Ministers such as Penny Mordaunt hailing the referendum a historic and great day.
"But now we need deeds not words - they must back our call for legislation fit for the 21st Century."
Any support for a free vote on Northern Ireland would, however, set the Government on a collision course with the DUP party on which Mrs May's fragile minority government depends.
The DUP MP Ian Paisley said Northern Ireland "should not be bullied into accepting abortion on demand".
Northern Ireland secretary Karen Bradley has so far ruled out a free vote on Ms Creasy's amendment, insisting it remains a "devolved matter" for the currently-absent administration at Northern Ireland.
But The Sunday Times reports that she is privately sympathetic to changes.
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