A legal case seeking to weaken abortion law in Northern Ireland would lead to disabled unborn children having no rights, Belfast High Court heard in mid-June.
Currently abortion in Northern Ireland is illegal, except to save the life of the mother. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) – a government funded quango – is arguing for abortion to be extended to cases of ‘serious malformation of the foetus, rape or incest’.
At the end of the hearing Mr Justice Mark Horner said: ‘The quality and quantity of the arguments, both written and oral, has given me food for thought. I have not made up my mind.’
The Department of Justice consultation on abortion, which ran from October 2014 to January 2015, attracted over 25,000 responses.
Less than one per cent of responses were in favour, but a press release from the department claimed there was a ‘substantial body of support’ for the changes.
