The two people to blame for Northern Ireland's archaic abortion laws
It is not often that you see a challenge to legislation as old as 1861 but then again it not often that a country's laws are allowed to fall so far behind the times.
The North of Ireland has been plagued by a history of violence and sectarianism stretching back hundreds of years and even the most seemingly banal decisions (like what flag to put up) have to be treated carefully with an eye towards the political ramifications.
Perhaps then the fact that Northern Ireland is so stuck in the past on a major political and religious issue like abortion is hardly surprising but that doesn't help the women who are made to suffer as a result of these ancient laws. The psychological trauma itself can last a lifetime and while women can travel to the rest of the UK to terminate a pregnancy on the NHS that is not always easy for some vulnerable women.
In this week's episode of the podcast we explore the human rights case in the light of Article 8 (the right to a private life) and Article 3 (the prohibition of torture) but as you will hear in the subsequent discussion this is not really a question for the courts but rather two women in particular.
Arlene Foster is the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party but has very little interest in reform. Furthermore her failure to step down after the so-called Renewable Heat Incentive scandal means there hasn't been a functioning government in Belfast since January 2017.
Theresa May is the prime minister and while there is no Northern Ireland Assembly, it is Westminster that legislates on their behalf. The problem is that May's government is propped up by the Democratic Unionists and so it is hard to stand up to them.
We expect politics (and politicians) to get in the way when it comes to implementing policy but when it means a country can no longer meet its basic human rights obligations then serious questions need to be asked.
Episode link: http://uklawweekly.com/2018-uksc-27/
Subscribe on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/uk-law-weekly/id1137316725?mt=2