Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly | |
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Long title | An Act to make provision in respect of safe access zones for premises providing abortion services. |
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Citation | 2023 c. 1 |
Introduced by | Clare Bailey |
Territorial extent | Northern Ireland |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 6 February 2023 |
Commencement | 7 February 2023, 15 April 2024 [1] |
Status: Unknown | |
Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Revised text of statute as amended | |
Text of the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act (Northern Ireland) 2023 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. |
The Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act (Northern Ireland) 2023 received Royal assent on 6 February 2023 and creates safe access zones around abortion clinics in Northern Ireland with a radius of 100 metres.
In 2020, a report by the NI Abortion and Contraception Taskgroup protest exclusion zones. [2]
In 2021, a majority of Northern Ireland's political parties supported protest exclusion zones. [3]
In 2022, the Northern Ireland Assembly voted in favour of the bill. [4] The Attorney General for Northern Ireland referred it to the Supreme Court, which unanimously ruled that the legislation was compatible with the European Court of Human Rights - it declared that "The right of women in Northern Ireland to access abortion services has now been established in law through the processes of democracy" - and that this legal right should not be obstructed by "opponents of the legislation based, some might think ironically, on the liberal values protected by the convention". [5]