North abortion ruling to force change in the Republic

Pro-choice campaigners have hailed a “historic” judgment in the North yesterday as the basis for a more liberal abortion regime here.

The judgment by the High Court in Belfast — that an outright ban on abortion in the North breaches human rights legislation — will see pressure increase on all political parties to deliver change south of the border as part of their general election manifestos.

The judgment by Mr Justice Mark Horner has added to the momentum for change in the Republic, which has built in recent weeks since Children’s Minister James Reilly called for the country’s law to be relaxed to permit abortions in cases of rape, incest, or fatal foetal abnormality.