Wales, Scotland Offer Free Abortions to Women from Northern Ireland; UK Government Vows to Fund Procedures
Wales and Scotland will be extending free abortions to women from Northern Ireland, where the procedure is highly restricted.
The leaders of the two governments made the offer after the UK government announced that it would fund abortion procedures, The Guardian reported.
However, Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist MP Ian Paisley Jr. said his party would not be pressured into compromising its hard-line stance against abortion.
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Speaking at the Welsh assembly, Carwyn Jones, the Welsh first minister, announced that the Labour administration would match the UK government's promise to fund abortions for women traveling from Northern Ireland.
At the same time, the Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said her government would set out its own policy to ensure women from Northern Ireland did not have to pay for abortions, according to a Scottish government spokesman.
Abortion in Northern Ireland is illegal unless the life or mental health of the woman is deemed to be at serious risk. Even though they are UK taxpayers, women who travel to England, Scotland or Wales face stiff charges, about £900 (US$1,160), to have an abortion on the NHS, according to The Guardian.
On Monday, ITV News reported that sexual health provider Marie Stopes UK has announced that it will no longer charge fees for women traveling from Northern Ireland to England for abortions.
Women who have already received treatment after June 30 will be refunded their consultation and treatment costs, it added.
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) is also waiving consultation and treatment fees to Northern Irish women who travel to England, Scotland or Wales to have abortions.
BPAS made the announcement last week, saying it had also decided to refund women from the region who used their services last Friday, after the threat of a parliamentary defeat over the Queen's speech last week forced the government to scrap its policy of not funding abortions on the NHS for Northern Irish women in other parts of Britain, The Guardian reported.
The British government made a sudden policy reversal after Conservative MPs threatened to vote in favor of Labour MP Stella Creasy's motion allowing Northern Irish women access to NHS-funded abortions. After the government accepted Creasy's proposal for free NHS abortion access, she withdrew her amendment to the Queen's speech.
However, Northern Ireland's Paisley made it clear in the Commons that his party would oppose any changes.
"I want to make it absolutely clear that the rights of the unborn child in my view and in the views of people from my party and on this bench trump any political agreement that has been put in place," he said.
Paisley said his party believes that a fetus "is a human being, it feels pain and emotion and is faithfully and wonderfully made."
He vowed that his party will take a stand on that issue "irrespective of the political agreements that are reached."
