BY Ian Dunn | November 25 | 
0 COMMENTS 
print
Northern Irish backlash for Sturgeon over abortion access
A senior Northern Irish politician has said Nicola Sturgeon should ‘leave well alone’ after announcing she would consider giving Northern Irish women free access to NHS abortions in Scotland.
Jim Wells, a Democratic Unionist Party member of the Stormont Assembly and former health minister, said the First Minister’s comments where ‘extremely unhelpful, unwarranted and she’d be better off dealing with her own issues.’
Nicola Sturgeon made the comments during First Minister’s Questions at Holyrood last week when Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie asked Mrs Sturgeon what could be done to ensure that Northern Irish women can access abortion in Scotland without facing ‘unacceptable financial barriers.’ Abortion is currently only available in the North of Ireland when there is a direct threat to the mother’s life.
Mrs Sturgeon said she would discuss with the NHS ‘what the situation would be right now in terms of accessing safe and legal abortion for women from Northern Ireland within NHS Scotland and whether there’s any improvements that are able to be made.’
“I believe that women should have the right to choose, within the limits that are currently set down in law, and that right should be defended,” the First Minister went on. “When a woman opts to have an abortion—I stress that that is never, ever an easy decision for any woman—the procedure should be available in a safe and legal way.”
Mr Wells, who is on the all party pro-life group at Stormont, told the SCO: “I don’t see why Nicola Sturgeon is intervening in Northern Ireland’s affairs and I hope it comes to nothing.
“Studies show there are at least 91,000 people alive in Northern Ireland who wouldn’t be if we had implemented the 1967 Abortion Act, and they are living very happy lives,” he said. “The number of women who cross the Irish Sea for an abortion is also dropping down to 900 from a high of 1,300. I think that shows the demand is dropping, that this isn’t wanted.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Catholic Church also criticised the First Minister. “In offering to fund abortions for women coming to Scotland, politicians ignore the reality that abortion damages women and destroys a human life,” he said.
“Women and girls in a crisis pregnancy need support. There is always a better solution than abortion. Our legislators should be defending the weakest and most vulnerable in society, not exposing them to death.”
John Deighan, the chief executive of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) Scotland, struck a conciliatory tone. “It is understandable that the First Minster will examine any issue presented to her,” he said. “In this case I cannot envisage that she would wish to act contrary to the laws on abortion or to make efforts to undermine the laws of another country.”
“Whilst campaigners for abortion may wish to present one particular picture of it, SPUC is involved in helping many women who have suffered as a result of having abortion,” he added. “It is becoming increasingly difficult for promoters of abortion to keep this reality hidden. Quite simply, abortion does not help the health of women.”
Clare Bremner, who works as a counsellor for the Abortion Recovery Care Helpline, also commented, saying: “The woman’s plight doesn’t end with the abortion, so we could ask the Scottish Government if it would take responsibility for the counselling and support for women grieving, distraught and traumatised by their abortion experience.”
RSS Feeds