In this next activity, we’ll find out about the work done in Westminster to build on the CEDAW report and bring about legislative change.
This activity should take about 10 minutes to complete.
The following clip is from an interview with Cara Sanquest conducted by Danielle Roberts of Alliance for Choice in 2024. Cara was a Parliamentary Aid to Stella Creasy. Stella was the Westminster MP who tabled the amendment that secured decriminalisation and a legal framework for abortion in NI. In the clip, Cara and Danielle talk about the events at the Westminster parliament that led up to the vote on the Northern Ireland Executive Formation Bill 2017-2019, New Clause 10 (Abortion). As you watch the clip, consider the following question:
Cara’s interview tells us that the political factors that influenced how abortion in Northern Ireland was legislated were very complex. On one hand, there was some anti-abortion sentiment across Westminster parties, particularly the Conservative Party which was in power throughout this period. However, there was also an understandable reluctance by Westminster MPs to ‘interfere’ in the governance of Northern Ireland which is a devolved administration. In 2017, the Conservative Party was weak, and proponents of abortion reform used this as an opportunity to pass legislation to set up a Central Booking System which meant that people in Northern Ireland seeking abortion no longer had to pay for abortion, but still had to travel. They managed to enact Westminster legislation that enhanced abortion access in Northern Ireland but did not ‘interfere’ with the law in Northern Ireland. The Supreme Court Ruling further strengthened the case for legal reform. Then the CEDAW report indicted the UK government as guilty of grave and systematic human rights abuses, not the Northern Ireland assembly (the devolved government in Northern Ireland). Therefore, it was the Westminster government that was obliged to act to change the law. This was seen to give the UK government a ‘green light’ to act and overcame the fears of UK members of parliament about ‘interfering’ in Northern Ireland governance.
When we think about liberalising legislation (for example abortion law reform or gay marriage), we often think that it is simple ‘opposition’ or ‘conservatism’ that prevents such laws from passing. Although this undoubtedly plays a big part, there are also often many other interests and sensitivities in play. For example, we see that the history of colonialism and sectarianism played a role in decriminalising abortion in NI. We also see that law reform came about on the back of many fortuitous events (the ‘perfect storm’). As activists, we need to have a good understanding of these complex factors ‘from the inside’ in order to be successful in bringing about legal reform.