CNA Staff, Mar 26, 2020 / 01:01 pm (CNA).- The British government has published its legal framework for abortion services in Northern Ireland, which will come into force March 31. It allows for elective abortions up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
“Our guiding principles for this framework are to uphold the protection of women and girls, the promotion of their health and safety, and the provision of clarity and certainty for the healthcare profession, while being responsive and sensitive to the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly being back up and running,” read a foreward to the framework written by Robin Walker, Minister of State for Northern Ireland.
The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 also allow abortions up to 24 weeks “in cases where the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or girl, greater than the risk of terminating the pregnancy.”
Abortion access will be permitted with no time limit in cases of severe fetal impairment and fatal fetal abnormalities, i.e. when “there is a substantial risk that the condition of the fetus is such that the death of the fetus is likely before, during or shortly after birth; or if the child were born, it would suffer from such physical or mental impairment as to be seriously disabled,” and when “there is a risk to the life of the woman or girl, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, or where necessary to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or girl, including in cases of immediate necessity.”
Doctors, registered nurses, and registered midwives will be allowed to perform abortions. They will be able to do so at General Practitioners premises, and Health and Social Care clinics and hospitals. The Northern Ireland Health Minister will be able to approve further locations for medical abortions.
In elective abortions or in cases of immediate necessity where there is a risk to the life of the mother, only one medical professional is needed to certify that there are lawful grounds for abortion. For abortion on other grounds, two medical professionals must make the certification.
In England, Wales, and Scotland, two medical professionals must certify in all cases that there were lawful grounds for abortion. While consulting on the framework, the government noted that only one doctor’s certification might be appropriate in Northern Ireland, “as it is likely that there will be a more significant number of people raising conscientious objections than in other parts of the UK. This could create practical difficulties, in particular delays in women accessing termination services, if two medical professionals … are required to certify the grounds for an abortion.”
Northern Ireland’s conscientious objection provisions will mirror those of the Abortion Act 1967, which legalized abortion in England, Wales, and Scotland. Under the provisions, “no person shall be under any duty, whether by contract or by any statutory or other legal requirement, to participate in any treatment authorised by the Regulations to which the person has a conscientious objection. The only exception will be where the participation in treatment is necessary to save the life or to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of a pregnant woman or girl.”
Conscientious objection will not be extended to “ancillary, administrative and managerial tasks that might be associated” with abortions.
The government wrote that “broadening the scope ‘beyond the participation in treatment’ would have consequences on a practical level and would therefore undermine the effective provision of abortion services in Northern Ireland. For example, fewer people providing ancillary services in relation to abortion could result in fewer appointments and longer waiting times, creating de facto barriers to access, and almost certainly adversely impacting the quality of care and standard of services. The Government is satisfied that the current scope of the conscientious objection provision in the Abortion Act 1967 works satisfactorily in practice, is human rights compliant, and is therefore appropriate to apply in Northern Ireland to the provision of abortion services.
Performing an illegal abortion will be a criminal offense punishable with a fine of up to GBP 5,000 ($6,070), and intentional failure to comply with certification and notification will be punishable with a fine of up to GBP 2,500 ($3,035). These will not apply to the mother, or anyone acting in good faith to save the mother’s life or to prevent grave permanent injurty to her health.
Buffer zones will not be set up around locations where abortions are procured, barring protest in the locations’ immediate vicinity. The government has decided to wait and see what the situation will be, keeping the matter under review so it can “respond to any challenges as needed at the time.”
The new framework was adopted to implement to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019, which decriminalized abortion in Northern Ireland and placed a moratorium on abortion-related criminal prosecutions, and obliged the UK government to create legal access to abortion in the region by March 31.
It was passed while the Northern Ireland Assembly was suspended, though the legislature resumed meeting in January.
Prior to the NI EF Act abortion was legally permitted in the region only if the mother’s life was at risk or if there was risk of long term or permanent, serious damage to her mental or physical health.
Walker wrote in his foreword that despite the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly, “the Government remains under a legal duty under section 9 of NI EF Act, and that the government “understands the strength of feeling on this issue and we have always been clear that the best way of bringing forward reform in this area would have been for the Executive and Assembly to take this forward, in the best interests of Northern Ireland.”
The framework was adopted following a consultation in November and December 2019 which asked 15 questions regarding particularities of how legal abortion provision should be made in Northern Ireland. The consultation was based on a proposed framework.
More than 21,200 responses to the consultation were received. Of the responses, 79% “expressed a view registering their general opposition to any abortion provision in Northern Ireland beyond that which is currently permitted.”
“The Government appreciates the wide range of consultation responses received and we are extremely thankful to all individuals and organisations who took the time to respond,” Walker wrote. “We also recognise that there are a wide range views on these sensitive policy issues, which we have carefully considered and sought to ensure are appropriately reflected in the Government’s response to the consultation.”
He said that “in considering the consultation responses, we have sought to balance the range of views against our legal obligations, and taken pragmatic decisions informed by evidence, in order to bring forward a new legislative framework that will be operationally sound, that works best for Northern Ireland and that delivers on the Government’s duty.”
The government said it “particularly reflected” on the consultations provided by “respondents with experience or expertise in terms of operational workability and proper access to services on the ground in Northern Ireland.”
The adopted framework closely mirrors the proposed framework.
The 12 week limit for elective abortions was adopted “to allow access for victims of sexual crime (i.e. rape and incest)” and because, the government said, “introducing a framework which creates barriers to access is unlikely to reduce the rate of terminations, but would rather be likely to lead to women buying abortion pills online, unlawfully, with attendant health risks, rather than accessing safe services.”
Many of the provisions were adopted to be in line with existing law in England, Wales, and Scotland.
Carla Lockhart, a newly-elected MP for a Northern Irish constituency who is a member of the Democratic Unionist Party, said the adopted framework “ignores the devolution settlement and the overwhelming viewpoint of the Northern Ireland people.”
Northern Ireland rejected the Abortion Act 1967, and bills to legalize abortion in cases of fatal fetal abnormality, rape, or incest failed in the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2016.
The amendment to the NI EF Act obliging the government to provide for legal abortion in Northern Ireland was introduced by Stella Creasy, a Labour MP who represents a London constituency.
In October 2019, the High Court in Belfast had ruled that the region’s ban on the abortion of unborn children with fatal abnormalities violated the UK’s human rights commitments.
Northern Irish women have been able to procure free National Health Service abortions in England, Scotland, and Wales since November 2017.
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If a person can get a Declaration of Nullity for the Sacrament of Marriage, it seems like one should be able to apply for a Declaration of Nullity for the other Sacraments as well.
Well, if there was something critical lacking at the time of the Baptism I suppose it wouldn’t be valid either.
mrscracker:
That’s what conditional Baptisms are for: To rectify invalid Baptisms, such as the ones performed by that priest in Arizona.
Any valid baptism cannot be nullified or rescinded in any circumstance, no matter whether the person declares themself no longer a Catholic, or leaves the Church for the rest of his/her life.
Once a baptized Catholic, always a baptized Catholic.
Whichvi believe to be anti biblical and foolish….many times jesus used parables to point that out….you can walk away from the faith as an adult, voiding your baptism as a mark of conversion…so get baptized as an infant, grow up doing whatever you please in opposition to the teachings of the church and still go to heaven….very delusional….
The Sacraments leave an indelible character upon the soul. Assuming they were valid.
I was baptised at 13 years old, and obviously, I know far more now, and understand far more now, then I did at the time. I got baptised with my friend. It was after confirmation classes were completed for the year (this was a Methodist Church) but before the confirmation ceremony (which I did not attend because we were out of town). I stopped going to church after that.
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Now, really, honestly, if I went to a marriage tribunal with that kind of mentality about my marriage (I don’t mean because I was 13, just all the other events around the baptism–the circumstances), pretty sure I could obtain a Declaration of Nullity.
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So a baby is baptised, and that’s the last time the child ever goes to Church because the parents show up just long enough to get the child baptised, but aren’t interested in the faith much. I remember reading John Hardon, SJ said that baptising a baby who would not be raised in the faith can actually be detrimental.
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NGL, I’ve literally wondered about getting my Confirmation declared Null
Baptism imparts an indelible character. You cannot undo Baptism. You can remove names from State rolls where the State has insinuated itself into the practice of religion, but the State does not inform Ctholic theology.
MrsHess:
An annulment is something that only pertains to the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony/Holy Mystery of Crowning.
It does NOT seem like one should should be able to apply for a Declaration of Nullity for the other Sacraments as well. A priest can be defrocked, and marriage can be granted an annulment in certain circumstances. Once you are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and Holy Spirit, you are a Catholic for the rest of your life, whether or not you declare yourself to be debaptized, or declare yourself as no longer a Catholic
You can leave the Church for the remainder of your life, but those 3 Sacraments of Initiation of Baptism, Confirmation, (Chrismation) and Holy Eucharist remain with you and your soul as long as you live.
Once a Catholic, always a Catholic.
Perhaps a better choice of words, but overall, welcome to dystopia. After-the-fact debaptizing sounds a lot like after-the-fact abortion undoing pregnancy.
And, while they’re at it, the 500 Belgians might explain for us why the transgender movement should not remind us of the 1978 sci-fi horror movie, “The Body Snatchers.”
For once, a rare moment Pope Francis is vilified for being morally on target. “The pope’s words were rejected by the university, which criticized them as betraying a deterministic and reductive attitude” (French-speaking branch of the university in Louvain).
Haughty, intellectually distorted faculty, the bane of academia worldwide, rend their garments. Not lacking in vindictiveness they add the criticism of clergy abuse to their outrage as a sort of elevation of their distorted reasoning. When was bringing an infant to birth deterministic? By what logic is describing women as nurturers of the gift of life reductionism.
Their logic is the unprincipled freedom to distort reality. They in effect hurl their disdain at Christus Pantokrator. Leuven/Louvain, among the many Catholic universities that are no longer Catholic.
The discord between Bergoglio’s words and actions is flagrant Liberalism – a sin when Catholics were at the helm of the Roman Institutions presently occupied by freemasons, their sympathisers and traitors.
The 4 maxims in Evangelii Gaudium are a composition deriving from secular thinking stressing worldly toleration. The source is not grace. The same secularist thinking is very often, inconsistent with itself; since it will at times prioritize conflict and ideas with its own part(s) while monopolizing both time and space as usefully as possible. Here we have a demonstration of it by people declaring their wish to be de-baptized; doing this in order to steal away from the Pope and the moral force of his declaration, whatever positive feeling they might now engender. The secularist thinking can’t be moored to faith; it is itself prone to produce its own jumbles while faith works in grace in season and out of season. The 4 maxims have nothing to do with evangelization and we are at a loss what is to be done for the Holy Father, or for the encyclical, about that. Except of course to pray to be faithful.
Belgium, like Holland, is the lion’s den today.
Hope Belgian Archbishop Luc Terlinden is taking lessons from Dutch Cardinal Willem Eijk.
Baptism like several other sacraments is an outward sign of an inward Grace joyfully received by an unique life and celebrated by the Divine residing in the assembled kith and kin. Trying to undo such an in-depth communitarian spiritual branding is a Herculean undertaking. Archival records may depict someone as a paper tiger, paper lion, or a paper Christian. Is that enough?