PROTESTORS who claim to have committed abortion offences will be in the Assembly’s public gallery today to watch MLAs debate whether private clinics in Northern Ireland should be able to carry out the procedure.
Over 100 people have signed a letter under the banner of Alliance for Choice, in which they admit breaking the law by using drugs which cause abortion or helping others to do so.
One signatory, QUB student Sarah Wright, said: “We do feel politicians are trying to restrict our rights in Northern Ireland. We have broken the Offences Against the Person Act 1967 but we are a collective and there are more people joining us. There is not a courtroom big enough to prosecute us.”
The Department of Justice told the News Letter that if the DUP-SDLP amendment is passed today to block private clinics from carrying out abortions in Northern Ireland, the penalty for breaching the law could be life or 10 years.
But a petition of concern led by Sinn Fein last night effectively blocked the DUP-SDLP amendment.
The justice department yesterday defended David Ford’s comments that the amendment could pose problems for the morning after pill, as the amendment refers to “an unborn child at any stage of development”, which it said is not defined in law.
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