Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed that the Scottish government is to explore how to allow Northern Irish women to obtain free access to abortions in Scotland’s NHS hospitals. Scotland’s first minister, during a visit to Dublin on Tuesday, said that the Edinburgh devolved government would hold talks with the Scottish NHS that may enable women from Northern Ireland to have terminations for free on the health service. Across the UK, the NHS has so far refused to pay for abortions for women from Northern Ireland who travel to Britain. She is challenging the NHS’s refusal to fund abortions for women from Northern Ireland. However, there is strong opposition from both unionist and nationalist members of the Northern Ireland assembly to liberalising the province’s strict anti-abortion laws.

Source: The Guardian November 29, 2016 11:15 UTC