Catalogue Number
NMLH.2025.32.6
Object Name
badge
Title
'Now for Northern Ireland'
Place
Northern Ireland, Manchester, UK
People
Sister Supporter Manchester, Abortion Rights Campaign, Stella Creasy MP
Events
Northern Ireland abortion decriminalisation 2020
Description
A rusted white badge with a blue circle in the centre. There is a grey hand holding a stopwatch with the word 'Now' on it. Pink text across the badge reads 'Now for Northern Ireland'.
This badge was worn by a member of the pro-choice abortion rights campaign group Sister Supporter during their successful campaign for the creation of a 'buffer zone' around the MSI Reproductive Choices clinic in Fallowfield, Manchester. The badge references that at the time of the badge's creation Northern Ireland was the only part of the UK where abortion was not legal under any circumstances, as the 1967 Abortion Act which legalised abortion in Scotland, England and Wales did not apply to Northern Ireland. Northern Irish people seeking abortion care had to travel to England, Scotland or Wales to receive care.
Northern Irish campaigners had drawn attention to the fact that then-ruling party the DUP's unionist politics (meaning they want Northern Ireland to be treated as a part of the UK) were at odds with their refusal to bring NI's abortion law into line with the rest of the UK. For unrelated reasons, the Northern Irish devolved government broke down, and direct rule from Westminster led to Labour MP Stella Creasy introducing a Private Members bill requiring abortion to be decriminalised for pregnancies up to 12 weeks, in cases of health risks to the pregnant person, or cases of severe or fatal fetal disability. The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 mean that for the first time Northern Irish people do not have to travel to access this healthcare. Abortion rights campaigners in the UK and Ireland campaigned heavily for this legal equality for Northern Ireland.
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