In June 2018 the Supreme Court declared that the abortion law in Northern Ireland, which outlaws access to abortion even in cases of rape, incest, and of foetal abnormality which would prove fatal, was in breach of human rights.

So the recent vote in the House of Commons in favour of extending UK abortion rights to women in Northern Ireland, passed by a majority of 332 to 99 votes (subsequently backed by the Lords by 182 to 37) was long overdue.

Disappointingly Rachael Maskell, the MP for York Central, was among those who voted against the motion. Moreover she is Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Pro-Life Group which is campaigning for the ruling to be overturned. As Ms Maskell’s constituents, and as citizens of York, a ‘Human Rights City’, we must urge our MP to dissociate herself from a campaign that seeks to deny women in Northern Ireland their human rights.

Sally Brooks,

Derwent Road, York