Today at the stroke of midnight, new laws came into place in Northern Ireland which will give women the right to abortion, as well as permit same-sex marriage. Although abortion within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy has been legal in England, Wales and Scotland for decades, it had remained banned in Northern Ireland in almost all circumstances – including rape and incest. Northern Ireland was also the last place left in the UK where same-sex marriage was not allowed, with Scotland, England and Wales all legalising same-sex marriage in 2014 How did this change happen? Northern Ireland has been without a government for almost three years after the devolved executive and assembly collapsed in January 2017 owing to ongoing disagreements between the DUP and Sinn Féin, and all attempts to restore power-sharing have since failed. Back in July 2019, Westminster MPs backed amendments which required the government to liberalise abortion and extend same-sex marriage to Northern Irel…

This post was originally published on British Institute of Human Rights News .