A WOMAN in Northern Ireland who faced two charges of procuring abortifacient medication for her teenage daughter walked free last week from her trial at the Crown Court in Belfast, owing to the decriminalisation of abortion in the Province by the Government in Westminster, on 21 October.

The online purchases of the drugs were contrary to the 1861 Offences against the Person Act. The judge in the case, however, directed the jury to find the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, not guilty in light of the change in the law.

In a statement after the acquittal, the woman’s solicitor said: “Today is a day of immense relief for my client who now finds herself free from the burden of this prosecution that has been in her life for six years.

“It is a day that she will forever remember, and a day that allows her to finally move on with her life privately, without anguish and criminalisation.”