BELFAST, Northern Ireland, March 21 (UPI) -- Guidelines issued in Northern Ireland Friday clarify that abortion is legal only to preserve the life or prevent serious damage to the health of a woman.
The Department of Health said the guidelines, issued for the first time in Northern Ireland, make no changes to the law in the province, the Irish Independent reported. However, some anti-abortion groups called them a "back-door" attempt to make abortion more available.
Under the guidelines, abortion is legal only when "it is necessary to preserve the life of the woman or there is a risk of real and serious adverse effect on her physical or mental health, which is either long term or permanent." Doctors who perform illegal abortions and other people involved as facilitators face long prison sentences.
A 1967 law made abortion more available in Britain but it was never extended to Northern Ireland. Goretti Horgan, a spokeswoman for Alliance for Choice, said the group will continue to work to change the law in the province.
"While the guidance does not change the law in any way, it does make it clear that women here have a right to end a pregnancy that threatens their physical or mental health," Horgan said.
