Women have always found a way to have abortions throughout the centuries

For those worried about the new laws ‘bringing abortion’ to Northern Ireland, some context is required.

Family planning has long been a part of the fabric of Irish society — from the first recorded abortion in 650AD performed by St Brigid, to home remedies; to the philanthropic wives of prominent city figures first establishing Marie Stopes in Belfast in the 1930s, to the cross-community cohort of women who set up family planning centres across the north amidst the riots and violence of the 1970s.

As we know — making abortion illegal does not stop women having abortions.

Through the centuries, desperate women have always found a way.

For the 28 women from Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, Tyrone and Fermanagh who every week travel to England, these new laws allow family planning to be done at home.

Dr Maeve O’Brien, Alliance for Choice, Co Londonderry