DUBLIN, March 14, 2002 (LSN.ca) - The secretary of state for Northern Ireland Dr. John Reid has confirmed that the British government has no plans to liberalize abortion law in Northern Ireland. Dr. Reid made the assurance in a letter to Mr. Nigel Dodds, Northern Ireland’s minister for social development and a member of both the Northern Ireland assembly and the UK parliament.
Mr. Dodds, warned that a legal challenge to Northern Ireland’s abortion law by the Family Planning Association to begin March 21 was an attempt to change the pro-life law. Mr. Dodds said that an overwhelming majority opposed the liberalization of the abortion law and any such attempt would be vigorously fought by Catholics and Protestants alike.
See the coverage in the Irish Times: http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=711570&issue_id=7050
(with files from SPUC UK)