Towards the end of May, three retired women in Northern Ireland handed themselves over to the Police Service of Northern Ireland, confessing that they had procured abortion pills via the post. By any standards, it was an extraordinary scene. Dozens of pro-choice campaigners lined up outside PSNI HQ, while Diana King, Collette Devlin and Kitty O’Kane went inside to make their statements, admitting that they had procured abortifacients in Northern Ireland.
They were there for a reason. In April of this year, a 21 year old Northern Irish woman was prosecuted under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act – the legislation which makes abortion in Northern Ireland illegal – for procuring and using an abortion pill. She pleaded guilty and was given a three-month sentence, suspended for a year. So why did the Diana, Collette and Kitty decide to make themselves known to the PSNI?
“It was our immediate response to what happened in April,” says King, 72, a retired social worker. “People were very shocked and distressed and angry. I think the fact that this happened recently has created a lot of anger in the community, among women – and men.
“It is so important to shine a light into the dark corners,” she adds. “Apart from this being an issue of particular concern to women, it is also a question of equality of treatment. If you can afford to travel to Great Britain, you can access a legal abortion and nobody is bothered about it. It’s the poor women, who can’t afford to, that are being targeted. It is outrageous. I am still so angry.”
CHARGED AND SENTENCED
King has been working with Women on Web, an initiative that allows women seeking an abortion to have an online consultation with a doctor and obtain abortion drugs. The abortion pills are delivered to King, and activists like her, before being passed-on, to women in need. The activists act as a bridge between the service and vulnerable women who are afraid of falling foul of Northern Ireland’s abortion laws. King has given the PSNI indisputable evidence of her involvement. If convicted, she and her two fellow protestors could face jail. King, however, is unconcerned about that possibility.
“The worst we could get would be five years and they always let you out after half time. Two and a half years wouldn’t bother me at all. I just want to know if they’ve got a library. But our solicitor has advised us that it is more likely to be a suspended sentence.”
The authorities certainly have the evidence to prosecute King, Devlin and O’Kane. Whether or not they have the appetite is less certain.
“We won’t know for a few months,” she explains. “I imagine they’d like to tuck it away and forget about it. On the other hand, we have provided them with evidence that we have been accepting the abortion pills. The police may not want the trouble, but there is at least one prosecutor with strong views on abortion and he may want to push it along.”
The sentencing of the young woman in April drew condemnation from around the world, in part because it was the first time a woman had been charged and sentenced under the 1861 law. A second case is in progress — a woman has been charged with procuring abortion pills for her under-age teenage daughter. Hundreds, if not thousands, of women in Northern Ireland have bought abortion pills, either for themselves or others, without being charged. Which begs the question: why now?
GIVING THEM MONEY
It is possible that the prosecution was in part a reaction to pro-choice campaigning, says Goretti Horgan, a prominent choice activist. The campaign included two open letters, signed by women who had procured abortion pills, either for themselves or others.
“We think maybe it was the first letter that caused the prosecutions to start,” Goretti says. “But it is also possible that, in both of these cases, there was no choice but to not ignore the breaking of the law. In the 21 year old’s case, her housemates reported her to the police and told them that there were foetal remains in the bin. They had very clear evidence. We don’t quite know what happened with the mother and daughter, but from everything we hear, it sounds as if the school was involved in some way, and that somebody told on her as well.”
The successful prosecution of a woman for using abortifacients under such an ancient law is troubling for pro-choice advocates in the Republic of Ireland. As yet, there have been no prosecutions of Irish women using the Women on Web service, but the 2013 Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act, carries up to a 14 year jail sentence for anyone using or supplying abortion pills.
“There’s always been a risk that the DPP could prosecute a woman here,” says Stephanie Lord of Choice Ireland. “It doesn’t matter that it’s probably something the Gardaí wouldn’t want to be within a million miles of — as long as a 14 year jail penalty is on the statute books, there’s a risk.
“There are countless women doing this every day in the 26 Counties,” she adds, “and lots of activists helping them, whether that’s by procuring illegal pills for them or giving them money or letting them induce the miscarriage in their homes.”
However severe the penalty, women in need will continue to access abortion pills, says Lord.
“It doesn’t matter what the threatened jail sentence is, when women don’t have access to legal abortion, they will take matters in to their own hands.”