Last Updated on April 24, 2019 by LawEuro
Communicated on 15 January 2019
FIRST SECTION
Application no.80046/17
A and B
against the United Kingdom
lodged on 9 November 2017
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
In Northern Ireland abortion is only lawful in very narrow circumstances and many pregnant women ordinarily resident there travel to England in order to access abortion services. Prior to June 2017 women who did so were not entitled to obtain an abortion free of charge under the National Health Service (as women ordinarily resident in England were entitled to do) and instead had to attend private, fee-paying clinics. The applicants – a mother and daughter – argue that the failure to provide for the first applicant, a United Kingdom citizen resident in Northern Ireland, to have an abortion in England free of charge under the National Health Service in late 2012 breached their rights under Article 14 of the Convention read together with Article 8.
Although the applicants were ultimately unsuccessful in proceedings before the domestic courts, with the Supreme Court narrowly dismissing their appeal on 14 June 2017, on 23 June 2017 the Minister for Women and Equalities announced a change in policy. As a result of that change, women from Northern Ireland can now access free abortion care in England and those on a low income can also claim travel expenses for themselves and a companion.
QUESTION tO THE PARTIES
Has there been a violation Article 14 of the Convention taken in conjunction with Article 8?
APPENDIX
1. A is a British national who was born in 1996, lives in Newry and is represented by Simpson Millar LLP
2. B is a British national who was born on 3 May 1974, lives in Newry and is represented by Simpson Millar LLP
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