A lot has happened in Ireland in the past couple of decades. They’ve legalised divorce, they’ve legalised gay marriage, they’ve legalised contraception – they’ve legalised all kinds. In 1983, a referendum vote illegalised abortion in what became known as the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, and last Saturday, a similar referendum vote made it legal again. It’s becoming a much more progressive country.
However, thanks to Northern Ireland being something different entirely, there is much debate about what they should do with regards to abortions.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has decided that she’s staying out of it, so that she doesn’t rile up the tensions with the North, even if Parliament are desperate to decide it themselves with a vote.
Arlene Foster says it’s up to the Northern Ireland Assembly
Arlene Foster, the leader of the controversial political party DUP, has announced that Irish laws have no bearing on the rules in Northern Ireland. She says it’s not up the Irish government to tell the people of the North what to let their pregnant women do. According to Foster, it’s up to the Northern Ireland Assembly to decide – not the legislation or the Constitution.
