Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act (Northern Ireland) 2023

Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act (Northern Ireland) 2023
Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
Long titleAn Act to make provision in respect of safe access zones for premises providing abortion services.
Citation2023 c. 1
Introduced byClare Bailey
Territorial extent Northern Ireland
Dates
Royal assent6 February 2023
Commencement7 February 2023, 15 April 2024[1]
Status: Unknown
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended
Text of the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act (Northern Ireland) 2023 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act (Northern Ireland) 2023 received Royal assent on 6 February 2023 and creates safe access zones around abortion clinics in Northern Ireland with a radius of 100 metres.

History

In 2020, a report by the NI Abortion and Contraception Taskgroup protest exclusion zones.[2]

In 2021, a majority of Northern Ireland's political parties supported protest exclusion zones.[3]

In 2022, the Northern Ireland Assembly voted in favour of the bill.[4] The Attorney General for Northern Ireland referred it to the Supreme Court, which unanimously ruled that the legislation was compatible with the European Court of Human Rights - it declared that "The right of women in Northern Ireland to access abortion services has now been established in law through the processes of democracy" - and that this legal right should not be obstructed by "opponents of the legislation based, some might think ironically, on the liberal values protected by the convention".[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Northern Ireland Assembly. Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act (Northern Ireland) 2023 as amended (see also enacted form), from legislation.gov.uk.
  2. ^ McCormack, Jayne (31 March 2021). "Call for abortion protest 'exclusion zones' in Northern Ireland". BBC. London. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  3. ^ McCormack, Jayne (12 October 2021). "Plans for abortion protest exclusion zones backed by MLAs". BBC. London. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  4. ^ Walker, Stephen (2 March 2022). "Abortion protest exclusion zone law moves forward". BBC. London. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  5. ^ Siddique, Haroon (7 December 2022). "Northern Ireland can create abortion clinic buffer zones, supreme court rules". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 17 July 2024.