“Nowhere on these islands have people had to fight longer and harder for their human rights than in Northern Ireland,” Corrigan said in a statement. “Future generations in Northern Ireland will no longer have to suffer inequality in the way so many have had to endure in the past.”
On July 9, 2019, British Labour MP Stella Creasy put forward a new amendment clause to extend the UK's abortion rights to women in Northern Ireland. Among other things, Creasy said of the clause:
"If we say to women that we will force them to continue an unwanted pregnancy, they will always be second-class citizens compared with their male counterparts. That is exactly what we are saying to our fellow UK citizens in Northern Ireland. We are not living up to our obligations to protect the rights of the women in Northern Ireland - those one million women are UK citizens."
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For years, conservative laws in the North have prevented women from accessing safe abortions, which the UK legalised in 1967. At present, anyone found guilty of illegal abortion in Northern Ireland faces life in prison. Meanwhile, marriage equality has been blocked from taking effect in Northern Ireland ever since the UK legalised it in 2014.
Following the two historic bills, Stella Creasy tweeted: "Thank you to everyone who today stood up for equality in Northern Ireland - whether for same sex marriage or abortion, today we have said everyone in the UK deserves to be treated as an equal. There's a road to go yet but today a big step forward #TheNorthISNext #LoveEquality."
