On 15 May, two things happened. First, the Alabama state senate voted to pass an aggressive abortion law by 25 votes to 6 – effectively making abortion illegal at any stage of pregnancy. Then, there was public outrage.

“How could this happen in 2019?”

“Why are we restricting the autonomy of human beings over their own bodies?”

“If pro-life Donald Trump is against it, how bad can it be?”

Soon after, many people in Northern Ireland let out an audible sigh. For them, this example of punitive legislation is not new. In fact, it is really, really old. Older than many people think. The Northern Ireland abortion law dates back to 1861. Yes, the 19thcentury – where everyone wore top hats, unironically.

Under this new law, which is due to come into effect in six months’ time, an abortion is only “necessary in order to prevent a serious health risk to the unborn child’s mother.” There are no exceptions for victims of rape or incest, and a doctor who performs the procedure could face felony charges and up to 99 years in prison.

Under the Northern Irish law, known as the ‘Offences Against the Person Act’, procuring a miscarriage or assisting a woman to do so is punishable by up to life in prison. The woman and the physician involved would both face punishment. ‘The Abortion Act’ which legalised abortion in certain circumstances throughout Great Britain came into effect in 1967, but excluded Northern Ireland.

Seemingly, the people of Northern Ireland want this to change. According to Amnesty International, since the repeal of the 8thAmendment in the Republic of Ireland – legalising abortions in certain circumstances – 66% of adults in Northern Ireland think that Westminster should legislate to change the law, in the continued absence of the Assembly. This statistic is brought to life by popular demonstrations such as that in Westminster in February. Twenty-eight women, including actors from the TV show Derry Girls, marched toward parliament with suitcases to represent the “number of women who fly from Northern Ireland each week to have an abortion.”

There is support for these causes – even legal support. In 2018, the UK Supreme Court found that the abortion law in Northern Ireland was in breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Specifically, this means we are not respectingone’s “private and family life, his home and his correspondence.”You’d think the male pronoun in this right would have ensured our compliance, but no. Since this ruling, Sarah Ewart took the case to the Northern Irish High Court in January 2019, seeking a formal declaration of the state’s incompatibility with human rights law.

Her anger with the situation has helped to galvanise a tangible effort to make change. She has personally suffered because of this law. For the rest of us, do we have to be individually affected by this before we will act? Is that really what it will take? If we are so comfortable condemning the change in Alabama, why does this Victorian law exist in Northern Ireland?

At time of writing, it has been 857 days since Northern Ireland had a government. In such a gap, it is easy to let apathy take over. It must not. We must hold our politicians to account, and if we truly despise the developments in America, we must equally despise the problems at home – if not more.

We have been through a long election season. Now is the time for action. The results of local council and European elections may not be able to initiate immediate legislative change on a matter reserved for the Northern Ireland Assembly. But conversations need to be had, and these need to affect the thinking within political parties – in Northern Ireland, or at Westminster.

If the movement in Alabama stirs something in you, then look at your local situation. Speak to your local representative. Speak to your friends and family. Speak to the delivery driver (if they aren’t in a rush). Make your dissatisfaction heard. If not, apathy will win and change will never come.