‘The majority of people in Northern Ireland do not think abortion should be a crime’.

A survey carried out recently on behalf of Amnesty International has shown that the majority of people in Northern Ireland – 58 per cent – do not think that abortion should be a crime at all.

There is even more widespread support for decriminalising abortion for women who are pregnant as a result of rape or incest, or if the foetus has no chance of survival; 69.5 per cent of people polled said they would like to see women stop being jailed for having an abortion in these circumstances.