Introduction of the National Health Service early medical abortion service in Northern Ireland – an emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic
Siobhan Kirk, Leanne Morgan, Sandra McDermott, Laura McLaughlin, Caroline Hunter, Tara Farrington
Abstract
### Key messages The 1967 Abortion Act establishing legal abortion in the rest of the UK has never applied in Northern Ireland (NI). With few exceptions, abortion has remained illegal and unavailable. Women have had to travel to Great Britain, funding treatment themselves until 2017 when the UK Department of Health and Social Care agreed to fund abortions provided by the main UK private abortion providers via a Central Booking System. Abortion was decriminalised in NI on 22 October 2019 under the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019.1 Regulations have been introduced; however, services have yet to be commissioned. The legal framework, The Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020,2 came into effect on 31 March 2020 just after UK lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ‘stay home’ advice and the introduction of travel restrictions within the UK. Flights were cancelled, meaning accessing abortion in England involved an 8-hour ferry trip each way. Two women attempted suicide after flights were cancelled and they were unable to travel. Accessing abortion was problematic despite it being recognised as an essential service during the pandemic by the Faculty of Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH)3 and the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists (RCOG). Abortion is decriminalised and allowed without …