New Scientist - 26.10.2019

26 October 2019 | New Scientist | 7

ABORTIONS and medical aftercare

are now legal for people living

in Northern Ireland, and the UK

government will fund journeys

to England for the procedure.

While abortion in some cases

has been legal throughout most of

the UK since 1967, it had remained

illegal in Northern Ireland even in

cases of rape, incest and when the

fetus was unlikely to survive.

As a result, many women in

Northern Ireland have travelled to

England and Wales for abortions.

In 2018, 1053 women did so. It isn’t

known how many of those who

were unable to travel bought

abortion pills online. In 2015,

Belfast’s High Court ruled that

abortion laws in Northern Ireland

broke human rights legislation.

Earlier this year, MPs voted in

Westminster to pass a law that

lifted the ban on 22 October if the

Northern Ireland assembly, the

province’s devolved government,

didn’t reconvene before then.

Unionist politicians, who oppose

abortion law liberalisation, tried

to recall the assembly, but were

told on Monday that it couldn’t

act as a speaker wasn’t elected.

Ongoing prosecutions, such

as that of a mother who bought

abortion pills for her 15-year-old

daughter, will now be dropped.

Local abortion services should

be in place by 31 March 2020.

“When it comes to being able

to make decisions over their

own bodies, women and girls in

Northern Ireland will no longer be

threatened with the criminal law,”

Stella Creasy, the Labour MP in

London who tabled the abortion

amendment, said in a statement.

“We are working closely with

colleagues in the UK to ensure

relevant training and support is

available to enable our clinicians to

deliver safe abortion care services

within Northern Ireland,” Carolyn

Bailie at the Royal College of

Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

said in a statement. ❚

As of midnight on 21 October, women and girls in Northern Ireland

gained legal access to abortions. Jessica Hamzelou reports

Pollution

Quieter school run

halves air pollution

CHILDREN travelling to

school via back streets rather

than main roads cut their

exposure to air pollution by

almost half, according to the

largest study of its kind.

Earlier this year, more

than 250 children at five

London schools wore

backpacks with pollution

sensors and GPS trackers,

recording whether they were

travelling by foot, car or bus.

There was a clear difference

in exposure to levels of the

harmful gas nitrogen dioxide

(NO₂) between those using

main roads and quieter ones.

The research highlights

the impact of the school run

on children’s exposure to

NO₂ – linked to asthma and

other health concerns. On

average, they faced levels of

NO₂ five times higher when

going to school and four

times higher on the way

home, than while at school.

Benjamin Barratt at King’s

College London says the

study aimed to make air

pollution “seem more real

and relevant to their

everyday lives”. The project

led to 31 per cent of the

participating children

changing their school

commute to reduce their

exposure to dirty air, he says.

On average, walking on

back streets resulted in the

lowest exposure to pollution,

at 78 micrograms of NO₂ per

cubic metre of air. Car or bus

travel was 85 μg/m3 and

exposure was 143 μg/m3 for

those who walked by main

roads. An annual average of

40 μg/m3 of NO₂ in any one

place is the legal limit for the

pollutant. ❚ Adam Vaughan

Abortion laws relaxed

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