Calls are now being made to the UK Government to foot the bill for abortions which are available free for people living in England, Scotland and Wales.

A petition has been launched to urge the government to provide a fund for women who desperately need help.

Dr Audrey Simpson, director of the fpa in Northern Ireland, said women here could only access abortions in extremely limited circumstances whereas women in the rest of the UK had unrestricted access to safe, free and legal abortions.

“In England, Scotland or Wales, a woman would not be told that she would have to pay for an abortion if she had been raped, sexually abused or if she has a pregnancy diagnosed with fetal abnormality. This is what happens to women in Northern Ireland every day,” said Dr Simpson.

“Women who decide, for a whole range of personal reasons, to end their pregnancy have to pay between £600 and £2,000. Collectively in 2008, the 1,173 women who travelled from Northern Ireland to England to access a private abortion paid in total approximately £1,550,700. Every penny of that money comes from the pockets of women during some of Northern Ireland’s worst periods of unemployment and recession. Some women who cannot raise the money are either forced to resort to illegal abortion procedures, such as purchasing abortifacient medication online, or are forced into motherhood.

“Despite being UK citizens and taxpayers, women in Northern Ireland have restricted access to safe, legal and free abortions. Their right to a basic healthcare service is denied on a daily basis by both the UK government and the Northern Ireland Assembly.”

fpa has launched a petition on the Prime Minister’s No 10 website http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/AbortioninNI/ which calls for NHS funding to be granted for women from Northern Ireland to access abortions in England free of cost.