The 1967 Abortion Act that governs abortion law in the rest of the United Kingdom, has never been extended to Northern Ireland.

Abortion is only available where a woman's medical or physical health is at serious and grave risk.

The majority of women requiring a termination face the prospect and costs of travelling to England.

The Family Planning Association (FPA) in Northern Ireland is the only organization openly challenging the status quo.

For the first time, this project is starting to initiate public and professional dialogue on the abortion issue and is calling politicians to account on their commitments to women's rights.

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Bright lights, but two very different big cities – London and Belfast may seem similar at first glance, but when it comes to giving women the right to choose whether to have children or not, they are worlds apart.

Under the 1967 Abortion Act, all British women are entitled to choose abortion if 2 doctors can agree that their physical or mental health will be made worse by the pregnancy.

But in Belfast, another British metropolis, the story is quite different. In a country where the 1861 ‘offences against the person act’ still stands, women cannot end their pregnancy unless their lives are threatened by it. Even in cases of rape, incest or foetal abnormality this law remains intact, and for any woman who dares to procure her own abortion, there is the threat of life imprisonment.

The only choice for many is to follow the London-Irish abortion trail. They travel in secret to English clinics to end their pregnancy and then return home, often confused about their own decision. But even though thousands are making this journey, the public in Northern Ireland are decidedly against changing their laws.

‘When I ask people if they approve of abortions, of course they say no,’ says Professor Jim Dornan. ‘That is until it happens to them.’

In part, the politicians of Northern Ireland should be blamed for ‘criminalising and punishing women,’ says Audrey Simpson, Director of the FPA in Northern Ireland.

‘Politicans are in denial of the need for abortion to be legalized. The lives of women are at risk, but still the politicians continue to give greater importance to their personal moral agenda rather than the health of women.’

She ends by saying, ‘this isn’t just an issue about health, but also about discrimination towards women.’

In a debate about abortion in 2000, Member of the Legislative Assembly Mervyn Carrick commented that ‘greater access to abortion in our country will lead to a litany of broken hearts, ruined lives, butchered babies and the descent of the judgement of God.’

Fiona Meredith, a writer and broadcaster tells us, ‘although the parties in Northern Ireland disagree on many issues, they find common cause to deny women these rights. A macho, immature style of politics still dominates here. What we need is a public debate to discuss this issue.’

But until such a situation materialises and the laws are liberalized, women look closer to home for help.

With pro-choice politicians driven into hiding from fear of anti-choice groups, doctors and midwives are relied upon to support women with unintended pregnancies.

Because of the threat of punishment, medical professionals can do little to support distressed women.

Professor Dornan admits that it is ‘tragic’ that when a woman is desperate for an abortion, ‘the best I can do is stare her in the face and tell her she has to go to London.’

‘Some areas of Northern Ireland are small, and so people can have a village mentality,’ says Audrey Simpson, about why a culture of secrecy lingers in the region.

‘There is a climate of fear around the whole issue and because of the judgement placed on women, it’s rarely discussed. But sometimes this silence is broken. We, the FPA, offer the only non-judgemental counselling service for women with unplanned pregnancies.

We attract many anti-choice protesters who coincide their arrival with the beginning of our counselling sessions to try and convince women out of getting an abortion.

Our councilors can inform women about their choices and advise them to travel to England, but we cannot cover the costs.’

Women have to pay over £600 to cover the costs of travel, accommodation and the procedure, and this leaves many poor women with the only choice of getting a potentially unsafe, illegal abortion in Northern Ireland.

However, for those able to make the journey this is only the beginning. They must make excuses to people close to them (though some do choose to tell their parents, friends or partners) and borrow money, sometimes being forced to tell a catalogue of lies that adds to their distress.

Like women on the run, they must journey to England on boats or planes, fearful of being stopped every step of the way.

Louise, who once travelled from London to Dublin with the same fear, talks about her experience in the documentary ‘Like a Ship in the Night’, made by Melissa Thompson.

‘There were ‘pro-life’ people on the boats, searching for single women travelling to England and they would try to convince us not to go through with the abortion. We were seen as filthy criminals who were to be stopped at all costs.’

On her return journey she describes how she was traumatised by the event.

‘I didn’t discuss it because I didn’t want anyone to know. I just wanted the waters to close over that experience.’

But if women don’t speak out about their experiences, the law may never be changed.

Ann Kossiter, author of ‘Ireland’s Hidden Diaspora’, who is campaigning for the law to be changed says that ‘we’ve been reminded over recent years that Ireland has changed – but when it comes to the right of a woman to choose, it is a place still stuck in the dark ages, both north and south of the border.’

Meanwhile, as the government and anti-choice groups continue to support the laws against abortion, women who are predominantly silent, are voting with their feet. Over a thousand continue to cross the Irish Sea every year to end a pregnancy.