My name is Sarah Ewart and, in 2013, I was denied an abortion in Northern Ireland, despite doctors saying that my baby would not survive outside the womb due to a fatal foetal abnormality.

Since then I’ve been campaigning to change the law so that no woman has to go through the pain of travelling far from home because the law in Northern Ireland criminalises women who seek an abortion.

In June 2018, supported by Amnesty International, I intervened in the case taken by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission asking the the Supreme Court to change the law on abortion.

The ruling confirmed what we already knew: that the laws on abortion in Northern Ireland were outdated and contrary to human rights in cases of fatal foetal abnormality and sexual crime.

However, as the case was not taken by a a woman carrying a foetus with a fatal abnormality or who was pregnant as a result of sexual crime, the Supreme Court did not give the notice of incompatibility with human rights that is required.

We are now seven months on and the law remains unchanged.  This is not good enough and that’s why I’m taking legal action in my own name, for myself and for all women who have and will find themselves in a similar situation.

Women in Northern Ireland, continue to be subject to the medieval criminalisation of abortion services. Please contribute to my legal campaign to change the law by contributing now and sharing the page with your friends, family and on social media.

The Legal Case 

In the Supreme Court ruling Lord Mance specifically stated in the Supreme Court judgment that:

“…. the need for such amendment is evident and the outcome of any further litigation would in that respect be inevitable. I am in short satisfied that the present legislative position in Northern Ireland is untenable and intrinsically disproportionate in excluding from any possibility of abortion pregnancies involving fatal foetal abnormality or due to rape or incest. My conclusions about the Commission’s lack of competence to bring these proceedings means that there is however no question of making any declaration of incompatibility. But the present law clearly needs radical reconsideration.”

It is against that backdrop that I began fresh proceedings seeking the declaration of incompatibly in June of this year.  

It is against that backdrop that I began fresh proceedings seeking a declaration that Northern Ireland’s abortion law is incompatible with human rights. I was granted permission in October and now we’re back in court again (January 2018) for my story to be heard once more.

My Story

In summer 2013, just prior to 20 weeks into my pregnancy, a scan revealed that my baby had anencephaly, the lack of a developed brain and skull. I was told that there was no risk to my health, and that the baby would be monitored fortnightly and labour induced if it was then discovered that it had died.

I was horrified to discover that, without a skull, the baby could not travel down the birth canal, and it was then that I decided that I could not face the prospect of a long and painful labour.

My mother Jane who has supported me throughout my campaign then contacted Assembly and Westminster representatives, with scant results. My doctor explained the guidelines for abortion and who confirmed that nothing could be done for me in Northern Ireland.  My doctor specifically said that she “wasn’t going to prison for anyone”.

When I sought advice from the Family Planning Association in Belfast, protestors crowded round and abused me and my family as we left.  My medical notes could not be transferred to the English clinic, where I was criticised for having left an abortion so late.

The entire process of having to travel to England for a termination was like being part of a conveyor belt and lacked any form of dignity.  The whole experience was devastating and at times almost overwhelming.  

It was against the backdrop of this nightmare that I began campaigning for the law to be changed, in an attempt to ensure that no woman would have to go through the same horrendous process that I did. 

The law is wholly inhuman and should be changed.  It is in itself regrettable that we have to issue Court proceedings to uphold what are very basic human rights.  

How much are we raising and why? 

In order to proceed with this litigation, I need your help to sufficiently cover the funds required. 

We have instructed Darragh Mackin of Phoenix Law, Adam Straw of Doughty Street Chambers and Monye Anyadike-Danes QC of the Bar of NI Belfast.

Without your help, I cannot meet the costs limit of the state bodies and cannot continue with this litigation. All funds raised will be directed to my legal team and any unused funds will go to support other legal action in this area. 

Please support my case and help us bring an end to the inherent human rights abuses of women in Northern Ireland. Pledge now to help end the abuse of women’s rights in Northern Ireland.