The UK parliament has voted to legalize same-sex marriages and to extend access to abortion services in Northern Ireland, in two historic measures that could bring the region's current laws into line with the rest of the UK.
Lawmakers in London overwhelmingly voted by 383 votes to 73 in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage, and 332 to 99 in favor of abortion reform.Northern Ireland currently has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world, with the procedure carrying maximum sentences of life imprisonment, even in cases of rape, incest and fatal fetal abnormality.
Following that vote, Ireland's Health Minister Simon Harris announced that women and girls in Northern Ireland would be able to receive access to abortion services across the border, saying that it was"appropriate and important" that these women should be able to access these services rather than being forced to travel to other parts of the UK.
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