Nearly 60% of people in Northern Ireland believe abortion in the province should be decriminalised, a new survey has found. • 58% of people think abortion should be decriminalised so that there would be no criminal penalty for women who have abortions in Northern Ireland; 22% are opposed to this change. • 68% of people think the fact that in most cases abortion is classified as a crime in Northern Ireland adds to the distress of women seeking an abortion; 14% disagree. Adrianne Peltz, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland campaigner, said the findings reflected how the people were ahead of politicians in terms of liberalising abortion laws. The Northern Ireland executive has appealed against the judgment and a decision from the court of appeal is pending.

Source: The Guardian October 17, 2016 22:52 UTC