General Discussion

niyad

(113,498 posts) Wed Jul 15, 2015, 10:32 PM Jul 2015

Pro-choice activists picket Derry police station over mother's abortion trial

(one wonders why the police think they are competent to hand out medical advice)

Pro-choice activists picket Derry police station over mother's abortion trial

Protesters hand in letter from 205 people admitting to procuring abortion pills, in solidarity with woman charged for obtaining them for her underage daughter

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An anti-abortion protest in Belfast: Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where the 1967 Abortion Act does not apply.

Pro-choice campaigners have picketed one of the largest police stations in Northern Ireland and challenged the authorities in the region to arrest them for breaking the law by procuring abortion pills. They said the protest outside Strand Road PSNI station in Derry on Wednesday evening was “an act of solidarity” with a Northern Irish woman who is being prosecuted for obtaining abortion medication for her pregnant, underage daughter two years ago.

The mother will be prosecuted later this year for breaking the region’s strict anti-abortion laws. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where the 1967 Abortion Act does not apply.

It is understood that after she procured the medication for her underage daughter the mother took her to hospital for post-termination treatment. Pro-choice activists believe it was after she visited the hospital that someone reported her to the police.
Northern Irish woman launches legal bid to overturn abortion ban
Read more
. . . . .

“Police would remind the public not to take prescription drugs that have not been prescribed to them. The taking of any prescription drug is potentially harmful if used without appropriate medical supervision.”

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jul/15/pro-abortion-campaigners-picket-derry-police-station-mother-prosecution

11 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Pro-choice activists picket Derry police station over mother's abortion trial (Original Post) niyad Jul 2015 OP

Does science make it into the courtroom or not? haikugal Jul 2015 #1

kick Liberal_in_LA Jul 2015 #2

jesus, the only place this law doesn't apply? dorkzilla Jul 2015 #3

and, apparently, only one section of ireland. bizarro. niyad Jul 2015 #4

It's bizarre that it's the only part of the U.K. where the law applies dflprincess Jul 2015 #7

It’s worse for sure - its completely illegal in the Republic dorkzilla Jul 2015 #9

It is more bizarre. dflprincess Jul 2015 #11

They had the Magdalene Laundries in the Republic too dorkzilla Jul 2015 #8

Desperate times call for desperate measures. beam me up scottie Jul 2015 #5

you are quite correct. niyad Jul 2015 #6

. . . niyad Jul 2015 #10

haikugal

(6,476 posts)

1. Does science make it into the courtroom or not?

Reply to niyad (Original post)

Wed Jul 15, 2015, 10:35 PM

Jul 2015

This is arbitrary and insane policy stemming from one group forcing their religion on others. Get off my body you creeps!

Liberal_in_LA

(44,397 posts)

2. kick

Reply to niyad (Original post)

Wed Jul 15, 2015, 10:35 PM

Jul 2015

dorkzilla

(5,141 posts)

3. jesus, the only place this law doesn't apply?

Reply to niyad (Original post)

Wed Jul 15, 2015, 10:40 PM

Jul 2015

That is so disgusting. I can't believe an "evolved" nation like Great Britain stIll has separate laws for the Irish. Fuck me.
Signed,
A Feinian Great-Grandaughter.

niyad

(113,498 posts)

4. and, apparently, only one section of ireland. bizarro.

Reply to dorkzilla (Reply #3)

Wed Jul 15, 2015, 10:42 PM

Jul 2015

reading some of the comments, it seems that this section of ireland was also the site of at least some of the magdalene laundries.

dflprincess

(28,081 posts)

7. It's bizarre that it's the only part of the U.K. where the law applies

Reply to niyad (Reply #4)

Wed Jul 15, 2015, 11:15 PM

Jul 2015

but they probably apply it to all 6 counties that are still under British control, not just Derry.

Though I would imagine the law in the Republic of Ireland is even worse.

dorkzilla

(5,141 posts)

9. It’s worse for sure - its completely illegal in the Republic

Reply to dflprincess (Reply #7)

Thu Jul 16, 2015, 08:29 AM

Jul 2015

Then again, divorce has only been legal there since the mid-1990s. Oh those crazy Catholics!

In more bizarre Irish news, its legal for gays to marry but not for a woman to chose to terminate a pregnancy.

dflprincess

(28,081 posts)

11. It is more bizarre.

Reply to dorkzilla (Reply #9)

Thu Jul 16, 2015, 09:56 PM

Jul 2015

I was truly shocked (and happily surprised) when same sex marriage was approved by the people of the Republic. I take it as a sign the church is finally losing its hold.

dorkzilla

(5,141 posts)

8. They had the Magdalene Laundries in the Republic too

Reply to niyad (Reply #4)

Thu Jul 16, 2015, 08:15 AM

Jul 2015

I think they started in Dublin and I believe there were a bunch scattered throughout the Republic (my mom remembers one in Waterford near where she grew up and there was one in Cork as well). These started up before 1922 so to me they’re a sign of Irish marginalization which was pretty much institutional since about the time of Elizabeth I.

And I’m, as i’ve often called myself, a flaming Anglophile (I also have a good deal of English blood in me) so its sometimes hard to reconcile. When I read about how much of the Enlightenment started in England and I think of how they treated the common Irish during that period (and do still to a degree. I have friends from Derrry who live here now and tell me horror stories) I am left with sadness and loathing.