A ground-breaking legal action designed to test the law on abortion in the North is to be heard in the High Court in Belfast today. The case is being brought by the North's Family Planning Association.
The Association in Belfast says that the legal action is not an attempt to have the 1967 Abortion Act, which covers Britain, extended to the North. It says that it merely wants the court to order the Department of Health to publish guidelines on the provision of abortion, under existing law.
The Association's application for a judicial review, however, will be strenuously opposed by five anti-abortion groups, who claim the group wants to make abortion in the North easily available.
The Belfast High Court will hear the case put by the Association and the North's Department of Health today. The anti-abortion groups - SPUC, Care, Life, Precious Life and the Northern Catholic Bishops - will make their submissions tomorrow.
The judge who will hear the judicial review, Mr Justice Brian Kerr, has already told the anti-abortion groups they will have to pay their own legal costs. He said that the Association's costs would be determined by the outcome of the case.
