Northern Ireland is under increasing pressure to liberalise abortion and introduce same-sex marriage after politicians in Westminster voted to impose changes to the law in July.
MPs voted by 383 to 73 to approve same-sex marriage and 332 to 99 to approve abortion during the committee stage of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill on 9 July. The House of Lords subsequently debated and backed the Bill, which means abortion and same-sex marriage will be imposed on the Province if there is no devolved government in place by 21 October.
In Northern Ireland, abortion is currently limited to cases where the mother’s life is at risk, and marriage is solely for one man and one woman.
