In July 2019, the UK Parliament voted by an overwhelming majority for fundamental reform of Northern Ireland's archaic abortion laws. Regulations implementing the reform came into effect on 25 March 2020. Drawing on extensive archival resources and a small number of interviews, we locate this extraordinary political moment in a broader historical context. We explore the factors that blocked the possibility of reform in either Westminster or Stormont for over five decades and consider what it was that had changed in 2019 to render it possible. While the measure passed in Westminster represents a radical rupture with the past, we suggest that it was anything other than sudden, rather representing the culmination of decades of sustained campaigning. We conclude by briefly discussing what this change is likely to mean for the future.

中文翻译：

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“太多，太难消化，太快”？北爱尔兰堕胎法律改革奋斗十年

2019年7月，英国议会以压倒性多数投票通过了对北爱尔兰旧式堕胎法律进行根本性改革的议案。实施该改革的法规于2020年3月25日生效。我们利用大量档案资源和少量采访，将这一非凡的政治时刻定位在更广阔的历史背景下。我们探索了阻碍威斯敏斯特或斯托蒙特改革超过五十年的可能性的因素，并考虑了2019年发生的变化以使其成为可能。尽管威斯敏斯特会议通过的措施代表了过去的彻底破裂，但我们认为这绝非突发事件，而是数十年来持续竞选活动的高潮。最后，我们简要讨论一下这种变化对未来可能意味着什么。