All we want is, free, safe, legal, local abortion access for everyone who needs it: An examination of the Northern Ireland decriminalisation of abortion campaign

The decriminalisation of abortion in Northern Ireland in 2019 was politically complex. This paper presents an overview from my perspective as the co-convenor of Alliance for Choice (AfC), the primary abortion activist group in the North, focusing on the socio-political background, then analysis via key themes. It considers abortion law in Northern Ireland as British colonialism in Ireland; it then follows the recent political crisis in the British government that offered abortion activists an unprecedented opportunity for restitution via decriminalisation. There is an examination of the influence of SisterSong’s work, which informed Alliance for Choice’s (AfC) campaign for decriminalisation (Bloomer & Pierson 2020). The article critically examines multiple barriers to abortion faced by people in Northern Ireland, where navigating complex abortion health systems for access to abortion care leaves too many behind. Finally, it illustrates how the needs of abortion seekers are better addressed by focusing on decriminalisation. It concludes by identifying how this can inform reproductive justice campaigns elsewhere and recognises the intersectional work that remains to be done. Together it illustrates how in Northern Ireland, multiple layers of campaigning and political change were utilised to bring forth significantly greater bodily autonomy within a human rights and grassroots framework.