Theresa May 'must prove she is a feminist by imposing abortion reform on Northern Ireland'

baroness chakrabarti
Baroness Chakrabarti has challenged Theresa May to prove her feminist credentials Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley for The Telegraph

Theresa May has been accused of betraying the legacy of the suffragists by failing to impose abortion law reform on Northern Ireland.

The Prime Minister has insisted that Ulster’s strict abortion laws can only be relaxed by the power-sharing government at Stormont, as abortion is a devolved issue.

But with the Northern Ireland Assembly suspended for the past 16 months, Mrs May is under pressure to pass laws in Westminster to bring Northern Ireland into line with the rest of the UK, following a landslide vote in the Republic of Ireland to liberalise abortion laws.

Baroness Chakrabarti, the shadow attorney general, said the right to choose whether to terminate a pregnancy was a “fundamental human...

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