Rape and incest are not reasonable grounds for abortion in Northern Ireland. The method of conception is considered irrelevant when it comes to protecting that child. In 1990, the Human Fertilization and Embryology Act introduced controls on new techniques developed to help infertile couples and supervise embryo experiments. Despite attempts to use this law to restrict the right to abortion, the 1990 law lowered the legal time limit from 28 to 24 weeks, which is the currently accepted point of viability. It also clarified the circumstances under which abortion is possible at a later date. The number of abortions in England and Wales declined between 1990 and 1995, and better contraceptive use may have been an important factor. In 1996, the number of abortions increased by seven per cent, largely due to the effects of a fear of the pill in 1995 on the safety of some brands of oral contraceptives. This has undermined many women`s confidence in hormonal contraceptive methods and reduced their use. The abortion rate has continued to rise, perhaps due to persistent concerns about the safety of contraceptive hormones, particularly among young women, and perhaps because abortion is seen by more women as an acceptable way to manage an unwanted pregnancy. The increase in abortion rates in 1996 was widely publicized and may have made women aware that abortion is a legal and safe choice. The Abortion Act of 1967 took the notion of welfare one step further by stating that an abortion was legal if “the continuation of the pregnancy would involve a greater risk than an abortion of harming the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman” (emphasis added).
In 2012, medical evidence clearly shows that abortion on a purely physical level carries a lower risk of maternal mortality and morbidity than childbirth. In February 2012, Telegraph journalists visited five BPAS clinics and claimed to want an abortion because they had a girl on the way and wanted a boy. Images of one of these visits were published; It was pretty funny at the time, because the Schtick was so unconvincing. Hats off to the newspaper for the lack of staff for finding a pregnant journalist, but they couldn`t find anyone who could act. In addition, BPAS staff had some experience in this area, as they stated in a statement at the time: “Requests for sex-selective abortion are . mainly made by journalists. In a grainy video, the journalist can be heard expressing her sexual selection intentions – there was, of course, a racist connotation; Who aborts girls? Foreigners, that`s who – with a doctor who says gently, if tired, that it`s none of his business why abortion was requested. Conservative MP Fiona Bruce introduced an amendment to the Serious Crimes Act in 2015 – but the immediate consequence was that Andrew Lansley, then health secretary, ordered the Care Quality Commission to investigate doctors.
