hetismij
- Sorry to be picky - but the Northern Ireland assembly is NOT made of extreme religious fanatics

It IS made up of people who think that are more British than the Queen or more Irish than St. Patrick.

I do not want to be difficult or to get into a political argument but anyone visiting this part of the UK should understand that the it has very little to do with religion.

>>>>>
Around 2000 women a year travel to the UK for an abortion.
>>>>>>

i'm also sorry to be picky but your language here obscures the most important point and implies that the problem is OUTSIDE of the UK (i know you realise this but it should be clear for all)...

about 2000 UK women per year have to travel to another part of the UK (separated by sea) for an abortion (including rape victims). and when they get to that other part of the uk, they are not eligible for the same services that are granted to other UK women from england, scotland and wales. most NI women have to pay for the procedure in other parts of the uk. the alternative is to continue the unwanted pregnancy or go back-alley. this is particularly horrific in the instance of rape.

the situation in NI violates EU human rights statutes. it is shameful that this is tolerated WITHIN the uk.

You state that 2000 women travel from N Ireland each year to have an abortion. Yet you forget to say that between 70 and 80 abortions are legally carried out each year in the same country.
Granted its not many but they have their own rules. They live there and you dont. But i fail to grasp your defininition of legal.

<<< more Irish than St. Patrick >>>

Given that St. Patrick is Scottish born, that isn't too difficult

"the situation in NI violates EU human rights statutes. it is shameful that this is tolerated WITHIN the UK."

I agree with you, but this is presumably the "price" one pays for having regional assemblies etc.

There are many differences within the regions of the UK - I would like free university education and free residential healthcare that I would be entitled to as a resident of Scotland - and am denied because I live in England.

This topic has digressd somewhat from the original post, however I found this.

http://womensgrid.freecharity.org.uk/?p=878


Muck

For those misled by the illiterate's nonsense:

1. The EU has no role in defining human rights. There are no "EU statutes" on anything, least of all abortion - an issue which is no damn business of the European Union.

2. There is an argument that the Irish Republic's laws banning information on abortion breach freedom of speech rights conferred by the EU's Maastricht Treaty. No-one's ever tried pretending the Treaty confers the right to abortion.

2. The laws banning abortion in Ireland, North and South, breach no international convention. Pro-abortion activists have attempted to get the European Court of Human Rights (which has no connection with the European Union) to rule the Irish Republic's laws against abortion breach the European Convention on Human Rights (again: no connection with the EU). The court has merely agreed to hear the case sometime in 2009 - and could eventually rule anything - even that abortion breaches the human rights of unborn children.

"For those misled by the illiterate's nonsense:"

Not sure who your slagging off today Flanner?
But as usual your being a complete idiot.

Ok it maybe me because I am guilty of leaving out a letter when typing quickly.
But..
Have a read of your last post Flanner. In particular the numbering of paragraphs.

Since when has the sequence of numbers been 1, 2, 2 .

Learn to count you dosy old fool.


:-)

Muck