Northern Ireland has been out of step with the rest of the UK since 1967. Abortion policy was devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2010 as part of wider policing and justice powers under the Hillsborough Castle Agreement. A 2008 parliamentary move to extend the 1967 act to Northern Ireland was blocked by then-Leader of the Commons Harriet Harman.



"The UK’s highest court rules next week on a challenge over the legality of Northern Ireland’s strict abortion law.

Seven Supreme Court justices in London will announce their decision on the controversial issue on Thursday June 7.

The ruling by the panel of judges, headed by the court’s president Lady Hale, follows a hearing last year.

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) told the court in October that the current law criminalises “exceptionally vulnerable” women and girls and subjects them to “inhuman and degrading” treatment.

During the three-day hearing, a QC representing the commission argued that human rights were being breached, with those affected being forced to go through “physical and mental torture”.

The Supreme Court has been asked to rule that a prohibition on abortions where a pregnancy arises from rape or incest, or “involves a serious foetal abnormality”, is unlawful."