Three Families (2021) s01e02 Episode Script
Episode 2
1
I'm pregnant.
She knew I was underage,
she knew he abused me.
She knew everything! And then
she asked me about the pills.
Could we have a word about
your daughter down at the station?
And we've decided that, yes,
we'll have the termination.
Well, you know that's not going
to happen. You will go on through
to the end of a normal pregnancy
and give birth to your baby
in the normal way.
Nothing about this is normal!
Nothing about this is right.
Your beautiful baby loves you.
Not so close, please.
How long will I get?
The maximum sentence is five years.
The government's considering
changing the law
on fatal foetal abnormality.
A woman's right to choose, end of.
No, we have to go for this.
There's women out there right now
being forced to give birth
to dead babies.
If it helps just one other person,
it'll be worth it.
I duly direct that the case be sent
up to the Crown Court to be tried
before a jury.
Your statement reads
really well, Hannah.
I think Judge Horner will take
it very seriously.
And, yes, we can keep your name
out of it.
"I would respectfully ask
that this court make an order
"that my identity should not
be revealed to any person."
That's the legal form of words.
Oh, yes, please, put that.
That would be a huge relief.
There's just one thing -
you were told
you'd missed the deadline
for a termination.
Because I was 23 weeks and six days,
yeah.
Over the water, in England,
with fatal foetal abnormality
..there is no deadline.
I didn't know.
II just accepted it. I
I didn't ask questions
I put the phone down!
Why will nobody ever give you
any proper information
in this country?
Government guidelines.
Vague ones. Strict but vague.
So strict and so vague
that our medics or nurses
..they've got too scared to tell
you anything about what's legal
and available.
Worried about their jobs.
Worried they could get prosecuted.
It's all wrong.
THERESA: I wasI was thinking that
human rights case might help us out.
I mean, I knowI know
it's a wee bit different, but
OK. Thanks, Rachel. Bye. Bye.
So a trial is listed to start
on the 27th of April
..for three weeks.
April? Next year?
This is a trial that was supposed
to happen before Christmas.
The trial your marvellous lawyer
said would never happen at all.
Quick, quick, quick, quick!
On you go!
Are we doing the right thing,
not telling the family
about the trial?
I'm the mother.
I ordered the pills,
it is my responsibility -
I will deal with it
as privately as I can, Mark, OK?
Nobody needs to know.
One day at a time.
I got it.
PROTESTERS CHAN
REPORTER: Angry protests outside
the High Court in Belfast today
against a landmark legal ruling.
The Northern Ireland
Human Rights Commission argued
that the almost total ban
on abortion law here
denies women
their fundamental rights.
And today, the High Court
has ruled in favour
of the pro-choice campaigners.
So that's it? We won? Did we?
Yes, the law is wrong, but, no.
Judge Horner says the courts
can't go ahead and permit abortions
in cases
of fatal foetal abnormality,
only an elected government
can do that.
The government? Stormont?
They're the problem
in the first place!
Don't tell us - tell the world.
It's a big step, Hannah.
Look, I can't talk.
I know, so just listen.
This human rights judgment
could be a real game changer
for us, Theresa.
It's potentially very good news.
I'm going to use it to ask
the Public Prosecution Service
and the police to drop their case
against you.
I want everyone to know how unjust
the law is here in Northern Ireland.
And I want the government
to understand
that no-one should ever
have to endure what I did.
I just can't sit back and do nothing
knowing there are other women
and families going through
the same thing.
And no-one should ever be forced
to continue with a pregnancy
if they don't want to.
And so the courts have sent
this most divisive of issues
back to politicians at Stormont.
You're not the girl I married.
In a good way?
A star is born!
Here, we'll have a glass of wine
to celebrate.
No, but you can make me
a cup of tea.
A big one - tea for two.
A baby?
I'm so scared.
Me too.
Scared
..and happy.
Which?
Choose.
Happy.
Look, we know
it was just a random thing,
what happened with Molly.
We got the all clear.
We know neither of us is a carrier.
But what if?
Nothing will go wrong this time.
It'll be the end of me if it does.
Went fine. Fine, fine -
God, what does fine mean?
It means, for an old girl,
I'm doing well.
SHE GIGGLES
Oh, and the baby takes after me.
As in? Long legs.
BOTH LAUGH
Are you calling me a short-arse?
Well, would you just rub
those wee legs together
and get home?
Your wish is my command.
Look up, look up.
HE LAUGHS
Oh, go! Go get him! Go!
Bringing you back
to Northern Ireland -
best thing I ever did.
Thanks.
Never thought
this would happen for me.
40's not old, not these days.
They mentioned
this quadruple blood test.
They offer that to anyone over 35.
Well, now I feel really ancient!
It's completely routine.
REPORTER: The headlines, again,
all change at the top
as Arlene Foster takes charge
of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
She's the first woman
First Minister in history.
Next news at 2pm.
I don't know,
might be nice to have a woman
in charge for a change.
I have no time for it -
all as bad as each other.
She's a mother herself,
so she's on the side of the angels
when it comes to the big stuff.
She proves you don't have to be
a Catholic to see that it's murder,
pure and simple.
Yeah, you know, those wee girls, you
know,
what if they've been raped,
for instance,
or were underage?
Two wrongs don't make a right.
Or is it the wee child's fault
how it got here?
And if he's disabled, so what?
He's still human.
He has rights.
Sorry, am I banging on?
Do you know what I think?
Orla. No, but I have an idea
you're about to tell me.
I think abortion is a woman's right
to choose. God in heaven!
I've had enough.
She's young.
She doesn't mean it,
I'm sorry. Orla.
Orla!
When did I ever bring you up
to be so rude?
She is a bigot and I can't stand
listening to her.
Louise is on her own.
It is tough for her.
And, you know, ifif you really
believed that abortion was murder,
you would fight to the death
to stop it, too.
Do you think what we did was murder?
Honestly? I don't know.
But I know I wouldI would do it
all again if I had to.
You'll catch your death
with that wet hair.
PHONE RINGS
Hello? Mrs Fortress?
That's me. It's Sheena,
the midwife from the hospital,
about the quadruple test you did.
Yes?
I get it, I do, but the test said
one in five,
a one-in-five chance
of this syndrome.
But that's not high, is it?
That means I'm 80% fine.
My baby is 80% fine.
Your scan shows clenched fists.
Can you see?
No.
There are cysts on her brain.
She has a diaphragmatic hernia,
her stomach is sitting
in her rib cage on top of her lungs
and her heart.
It's on the wrong side
of her body.
Dr Brewster, I've found children
surviving to the age of 18.
Those children have what's called
partial or mosaic Edwards'.
Well, well,
then we'll look it up again.
We'll get a second opinion.
Mrs Fortress, your baby
has full Edwards' syndrome -
every cell in her body is wrong.
I am so very sorry, but the syndrome
is incompatible with life.
And we need to talk about what to do
if she survives her birth.
She will be in a lot of pain,
so whether to attempt
resuscitation
..or just make her comfortable.
You can go to the mainland.
TOILET FLUSHES
Manchester or Liverpool.
I-I don't understand.
Just go to the mainland, love.
It's what all the women do,
what we've always done.
PIERCING TONE
ECHOING FOOTSTEPS
WHISPERS: Migraine.
REPORTER: To Stormont now,
where MLAs will vote today
on a controversial proposal
to allow abortion
in cases
of fatal foetal abnormality.
It follows Judge Horner's ruling
that the current law breaches
women's human rights.
I'm trying to be excited
rather than scared,
but it's just so many tests
and scans and monitoring.
I'm constantly
in and out of the clinic.
But, no, I would not rather be
sat on my bum at home.
SHE CHUCKLES
Not until after
I've stood right here,
at Stormont,
cheering on our victory.
You might have a bit of a wait.
The politicians up there'd argue
till kingdom come rather than make
any useful decisions.
Doesn't it ever get you down?
The long old grind of it.
I've been campaigning
for half a century.
An old trout like me has to learn
how to pace herself.
HANNAH LAUGHS, PHONE RINGS
Oh, God, is that the result? Hello?
Yes.
Oh, God, they voted it down?
They really think they can just go
against the High Court
in a human rights ruling?
Well, they can think again
because we are not going anywhere.
Up there,
abortion is the only thing
they all agree on.
APPLAUSE
CHEERING
NESBITT: It's Dickensian.
This is Bleak House we are in today,
in the chancery courts,
waiting day after day after day
after day
for a decision that never comes.
REPORTER: Following a passionate
debate at Stormont,
the proposal on fatal foetal
abnormality was defeated
by 59 votes to 40.
Attorney General John Larkin QC
has advised the change could breach
the UN Convention on the Rights
of Persons with Disability.
They don't know what they're saying,
they've not been through it.
John, I'm not sure
I can do this any more.
Your campaigning?
But you love it.
I just can't go out there and
..look cheerful
when inside I'm such a wreck.
I tell you what, then, why don't
the two of us stop at home
and be a couple of wrecks together?
SHE LAUGHS
Hmm?
No, no, love, go back to bed.
I'll bring you something. It's OK.
My migraine's gone.
It's four days this time.
Well, they're always so much worse
when I'm under stress.
Stress?
SHE LAUGHS BETWEEN TEARS
I think you accepted it was hopeless
before I did.
Maybe, but I'm not
the one going through it.
It's OK.
I'm ready.
OK.
Right, well, I've looked it all up,
and the law in Northern Ireland
clearly says you can get
a termination,
but only if the mother's life
is at risk,
or there must be a risk of real
and serious adverse effect
on her physical or mental health
..which is either long-term
or permanent.
Rosie, that's you, that's you.
SHE SIGHS
Well,
I have a fat old file to show them.
HE LAUGHS SOFTLY
ORLA: Ma, got any more teabags?
Look in that top cupboard.
I'm off to work, then.
Will I nip to the shop?
You OK? Well, I didn't get
much sleep either.
Orla caught me leaving the house
dressed like this -
the face on her.
Now, listen, Theresa,
I'm optimistic that the trial
may not start today, after all.
No. No, not more delays.
Our QC thinks we've got enough
to challenge the whole basis
of the prosecution.
I'm not going to see my wee boy
grow up, am I?
I'm going to lose my family
and my home,
and my son is going
to lose his mother,
and he's not even four yet!
He doesn't deserve this.
You don't deserve it either.
Jesus, I keep it together at home.
I don't let them see -
you're the only one.
But, Rachel
..you've worked so hard on this -
I mean, Jesus,
we're not even paying you -
but I just feel like giving up.
You're stronger than you know -
the strongest person I ever met.
Theresa,
I can fight this to my last breath
if I know you're right beside me.
We can do this.
OK?
FADING: There's no jury yet,
it's just legal arguments,
so you won't be sitting in court.
The judge has granted us
three weeks' delay.
It's good, it's good.
We're going to apply
for judicial review
to challenge the original decision
to prosecute.
We're saying that forcing Orla
to continue a crisis pregnancy
would have been inhuman
and degrading treatment,
in breach of her human rights.
She'll just be giving
a written statement.
No. She won't have
to stand up in court.
Look, she's 18 years old,
but she's still my child.
Theresa Theresa!
I said no. Orla's on the line.
You went to her behind my back?
No, of course not.
She found my number.
Orla?
ORLA: You let me think
it'd all just gone away.
I wanted to protect you.
You already did that, Ma.
You did it when I was a kid.
Now I'm not.
They're threatening to send
my one and only mummy to prison.
What am I meant to do without her?
Liam's only three.
You want me to just do nothing?
I want for this to be
so none of this ever happened.
What doesn't kill you
makes you stronger.
THERESA LAUGHS
OK, I read way too much
self-help shite. Mm-hm.
I mean it, though.
I want to help.
You want to help?
You could do a bit more washing-up.
ORLA LAUGHS
No, no, thank you.
Oh, worth a shot.
A month till your A levels,
and you need to concentrate.
Look, if I want to go see
this Rachel, I'll go see her.
I'll go on my own, I don't care.
Theresa, we talked about this.
We agreed to keep her out of it.
Excuse me, but this is all about me.
No, it's not. Listen to yourself.
Who's the one facing
five years behind bars?
And that's exactly
why I need to do this,
to make it all go away for her.
How do you not see that?!
Stop it, for Christ's sake,
the pair of yous.
Look, Orla, you're always saying
that you're a grown-up.
OK, can you ever just try
acting like one? I am, Ma.
This is what grown-up looks like -
standing up for myself.
I want everyone to hear
why she did it.
Mark, you're coming too.
I want you there.
Please.
Fine.
I was only 15 years old,
and I was frightened
..at the prospect of being a mother.
I was still a child myself.
Still at school.
And I had always planned
to do my A levels.
I wanted to go to university.
I had begun telling my mother
bit by bit
..about all the ways
that my ex-boyfriend had treated me.
The idea of him
..being the father of my child
..and being in my life
in the long term
made me physically ill.
I was also genuinely afraid
..that he could physically abuse
the child
..if I decided to go through
with the pregnancy.
Bringing it all back,
it's not fair.
She shouldn't have to do this.
I do, though.
I've never told you, Orla
..that you are brave
and clever and beautiful.
Your mother's daughter, 100%.
We're all in this together.
From now on.
ROSIE: A full-on nervous breakdown,
yes,
on top of these terrible migraines.
We were living in Birmingham
and I was ill, so ill,
for days and days on end -
sickness, diarrhoea -
and nothing could stop them.
I couldn't work, couldn't go out
And the pain, it's so intense
that it's crippling, really.
And I just reached
the end of my rope.
There was a psychotic episode,
and they wanted to take me
into hospital, but my husband
thought it might help me more
if they brought me home,
to Northern Ireland.
I said, "You don't know the place."
I can see a history of depression.
I believe my file shows
the risk to my mental health
is significant.
I believe I meet the legal test.
Abortion on mental health grounds
is really, in practice,
not possible.
Well, for a woman in my position,
though,
the law clearly states
Mrs Fortress,
the legal bar is set very high,
so high that
ROSIE STAMMERS
I am carrying a baby
with no chance of life.
I can see how distressing
this is for you.
But if you can't help me,
then who can? Where do I go?
I-I can't advise you on that.
You can't advise me?
But you're a doctor!
Look, we can manage your distress
withwith medication.
No
What if I were to say to you,
Dr Coleman,
that my distress
is so acute
that I am contemplating suicide?
What would you advise?
Again, medication.
That's medication that might
further harm my unborn child.
What do you advise?
Doctor, look at my file.
We have to work
within government guidelines.
No, but if I don't qualify,
then who does?
SEAGULLS CAW
£1,400.
Plus flights to Manchester, yeah.
Yeah, I'll start looking
at those now.
OK, thanks. Bye.
PIERCING TONE
ECHOING CAWS
MUFFLED ECHOING
LABOURED BREATHING
DRIVER: Is she OK?
I don't know if I can do this.
I can send the taxi away
and drive us myself.
I can't see. Rosie, if we don't go
now, we'll miss the flight,
we won't make the appointment.
Oh, Rosie
Is there anything I can do?
SHE COUGHS
SHE SOBS
Oh, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
Don't you ever say sorry to me.
Will I wait?
CAR DOOR CLOSES
I wish
I'd never brought you back here.
ENGINE STARTS
What's that? Lizards.
And what's that?
Bike.
SHE GASPS
He's going straight
to the top of the class.
ORLA: Mam!
She won the lottery? No.
Oh, my God.
I'm going to university!
LAUGHING AND CHEERING
Oh, well done!
You clever girl! Come here to me!
Oh, listen,
not for a year, though.
I'm going to defer. You will not.
No granddaughter of mine is going
to sit on a beach in Bali for a year
picking her nose.
I need to be here for my mummy.
Your mother will enjoy
the peace and quiet.
I know something's up.
I've known it for a while.
Look, Liam, do you want
to go upstairs with Orla?
She'll read you a wee story.
Yeah, come on. Good boy.
FOOTSTEPS FADE
This is a really big day for her.
Don't change the subject.
I'm not.
Three years ago,
we didn't know if she'd get here.
Drugs? No.
Pregnant?!
What'd you do, take her to England?
No, no.
I just
..got her some pills
off the internet.
Sure, there's a woman all over
the papers facing prison for that!
Yeah.
There is.
All this time, I've been thinking,
is it money worries?
Is her marriage failing?
Is it, God forbid, cancer?
SHE EXHALES SHARPLY
The sleep you've cost me, Theresa.
So why didn't you ever ask me?
Excuse me?
Who's in the wrong here?
My own daughter keeping something
as big as that from me?
What kind of mother
does that make me?
The type I always wanted to please
and never could.
No, that's unfair.
Come on, Mummy!
If I'd have come to you
three years ago, Jesus!
You're right.
I would've called the wrath
of heaven down upon you.
But the world is changing, pet.
I know that. I watch the news too.
Tell me what I can do to help.
You can wait with me, Mammy.
Waiting's all there is to it.
Oh
SHE GROANS SOFTLY
She's gone, isn't she?
I felt it.
The moment she died.
I felt her go.
The birth will be induced,
and I'll get you booked
into room five on Sunday.
Uh, room five?
It's what we call
the bereavement suite.
You've not long to wait, then.
Oh, I'm not as pregnant as I look.
My baby has Edwards' syndrome -
she can't absorb the amniotic fluid,
so I just get bigger and bigger.
Lord above!
I never heard of such a thing.
I'm going into room five
on Sunday
..and the baby I'll be bringing home
will be dead
..cos she's dead already.
I have to carry her around
inside me until Sunday.
And she's dead.
And
..I need something
for her to wear
..for whenever I bring her home.
But I can't see
..I can't see to choose.
This one's nice. This one's pretty.
SCREAMING
SCREAMING INTENSIFIES AND ECHOES
MUFFLED BABY CRIES
BABY CRIES
I dare think
she is the most beautiful baby
the world has ever seen.
She absolutely is.
She absolutely is.
Oh, my goodness, she is!
I'm looking forward to
a bit of a quiet life now.
SHE LAUGHS
With a baby in the house?
You know what I mean.
A quiet life.
BABY FUSSES AND CRIES
REPORTER: Northern Ireland is
without a government tonight
after the shock resignation
of Martin McGuinness.
Under the power-sharing rules,
his move forces
First Minister Arlene Foster
also to step down.
The Assembly will be dissolved
in the next number of days.
And that, of course, is deeply
regrettable, that Northern Ireland
will have no Assembly
and functioning executive
over the coming period.
The move ends a decade
of uneasy cooperation,
and all new legislation
currently before Stormont will fall,
including abortion law reform.
Oh, for God's sake.
Right. One more.
The Private Member's Bill, yes,
we'd high hopes of that,
but it won't happen now -
nobody left inside Stormont
to vote on anything.
No
Mother got the pills
for her daughter, yes.
Her judicial review is being set up.
So it would have to be today
that the lift stops working!
Oh, my God!
Can I call you back?
Oh! Thanks.
Oh!
It's so good to see you!
Oh, to see the both of yous.
Oh, look at her.
Oh, she's like her da.
All wee babies look like their da -
to stop the man from straying.
You and your nonsense!
Start her young - no time to lose.
Oh, yes. Yes, I'm here. Hello.
So what can I do to help?
After all the letters we wrote
and all the petitions
and all that work,
and what a waste of time
No, no, listen.
The government collapse
and the power vacuum in Stormont,
it's totally not a disaster for us.
It's an opportunity.
We're already talking to women
at Westminster.
Starting again.
Westminster?
How long is that going to take?
How long have you got?
So that was your judicial review.
Two whole days of lawyers in wigs
banging on,
and we're still going home
without an answer.
For God's sake
Reserve judgment?
What's that supposed to mean?
The judge has to go away
and think about it.
How are you not furious about that?
I know the waiting's hard.
I don't know how you're still
on your feet after five years
of it. What choice do I have?
I've got children.
I've got to keep going for them.
I'm got to keep going for you.
Huh?
No, I'm not having that.
I'm not that man.
I'm the one you used to chatter on
to day and night.
Before all this shite,
you were always ringing me up
about some nonsense.
We were friends, best friends.
We could talk about anything.
I miss that woman, Theresa.
I miss that life.
If I let go
..if I let it all out,
even with you
..that wee bit of strength
that I have left,
it'll all just leak away.
Just let me in. Hmm?
REPORTER: Our top story tonight -
should a mother go to prison
for helping her underage daughter
get an abortion?
The High Court in Belfast
has been hearing all the arguments
on the second day
of the landmark legal challenge.
The mother and daughter,
who cannot be named, are seeking
to overturn the decision
to prosecute
in advance of a criminal trial,
which could impose
a five-year prison sentence.
Our legal correspondent has spent
the day at the High Court
For God's sakes!
..listening to the arguments.
It's inhuman.
In seeking judicial review of
the Public Prosecution Service
decision to send her for trial,
the mother
PHONE RINGS
Right To Choose, Hannah speaking.
How can I help?
Oh, I was just listening about
that poor woman and her daughter.
Thought I wanted to help.
Well, that's terrific. Thank you.
Since Stormont went down the pan,
we've been encouraging everyone
to lobby the Westminster government
to change the law.
Can I take your name?
Only if you want to give it.
Mummy!
Sorry, I've got my daughter with me.
Uh
Maybemaybe I'll call back
another time.
No, no, please, please don't.
I'm sorry for your trouble,
whatever it's been for you.
My name's Hannah.
I'm Rosie.
Most of our friends
don't talk to us any more, you know.
"Why don't you just get over it?"
The thing is, I can't get over it.
I had a childand now I don't.
Will you try again?
No.
I'm too oldand too sad.
You know the worst thing, Hannah?
When they kept asking me
.."If she's born alive,
do you want us to resuscitate her?"
Like we only got the right to choose
after she was born.
You know, whenever we first heard
about this inquiry, I thought maybe
we'd get a nice trip to London
out of it.
And here we are in a glamorous
night out in Derry.
Hello, I'm Maria Miller, MP.
I'm chair of the Women
and Equalities Select Committee
of the House of Commons.
We're here from Westminster,
and we're really grateful to you
for coming along today.
We want to hear a little bit
from each of you about how the law
on abortion in Northern Ireland
has impacted you and your families.
So
Mrs Kennedy?
Abortion was never on my radar.
I had bought a house, got engaged,
got married, planned to have kids,
tried for a baby, fell pregnant,
and that was my path.
Sorry, I'm a wee bit nervous.
You're absolutely fine.
There is something I really want you
to know,
something that only really hit me
recently, five years later.
See, I was just talking
to this other woman, Rosie,
and the thing is, I was asked
what I wanted to happen
if my daughter was born alive.
Do we intervene and resuscitate,
or do we make her comfortable
and let her pass?
So I was given a choice.
Only then,
when she was no longer in my womb,
only then was I allowed
to decide. So
..to me and to Rosie,
that does not make sense.
NEWS INTRO MUSIC
Tonight, a potentially
game-changing moment,
as you've been hearing,
for pro-choice campaigners
in Northern Ireland, as Parliament
voted by a landslide
to legalise abortion.
The ayes to the right - 332,
the noes to the left - 99.
In the absence of an Assembly,
come October the 21st,
steps must be taken
to reform abortion laws here
to comply with human rights
legislation.
Yes!
There's a deadline now,
but they've still got three months.
Stormont could still get their act
together in time?
Hmm Even if we do get a new law
out of it, well, if it's imposed
by Westminster, it's
..it's unconstitutional,
is what it is.
It's imperialist.
Come on.
It's direct rule. I don't care.
That's cos you're a Protestant!
No, it's because I'm a woman!
LAUGHTER
REPORTER: Thousands of pro-life
campaigners have gathered
at Stormont to mount
a silent protest.
The organisers claim support
from all religious backgrounds
and political persuasions,
united against
the Westminster deadline,
which, come October the 21st,
will impose liberalisation
of the law against their will.
Their message, "We were not asked.
They cannot speak."
DOOR OPENS
Maybe the politicians
will pull something off.
Sort themselves out at Stormont
before the deadline.
No.
I don't think so.
Thanks for coming, Theresa.
I got home from Stormont,
and I thought, "It's just hopeless.
"The bad guys are winning,
and there's nothing I can do.
"Who can I call who won't tell me
I'm an idiot?" Don't be daft.
We're always here for each other,
aren't we?
Here, do you know what?
I didn't like you
when I first met you.
THERESA LAUGHS
Well, I liked you.
Well, I liked everyone
when I was eight years old.
Always so calm and forgiving.
Always picking me out of fights
and dusting me down.
I wish you'd find the comfort here
that I do.
Pope Francis says
every child that isn't born
but is unjustly condemned
to be aborted
has the face of Jesus Christ.
The face of the Lord.
Maybe the wee girls
have his face too
..when we send them
across the water.
If you want the truth, Louise,
the reason I've stayed away
from the church is because
..I didn't know
how to be a good Catholic
and a good mother to a teenage girl.
Whatever you do in your life
..God is kind and patient
..and He loves you.
REPORTER: Deadline day at Stormont,
where the political parties
have until midnight to agree
to form an administration.
The stakes are high.
If they fail to overcome
their differences, the Westminster
government will step in
to impose abortion law reform.
We're just hearing now
from inside Stormont.
DUP leader Arlene Foster
has conceded defeat
in her last-ditch attempt
to re-establish the collapsed
power-sharing government.
It means, as of tonight, abortion
is no longer a criminal offence
in Northern Ireland.
SHE SIGHS
It is a very sad day,
and I know some people
will seek to celebrate today,
and I would say to those people,
think of those of us
who are sad today and who believe
that this is an affront
to human dignity and to human life.
I think that the circus
I never thought I'd find myself
warming to that DUP woman.
Hmm.
She's shown a deal of dignity.
We won't give up, no way.
We'll get it overturned.
Night, love.
Are the real doctors and nurses
willing to do it, anyway?
He's already done it, Ma.
Yeah, I know, but he never really
does the worktops properly.
You're such a mother hen.
Admit it, you even mother
a piece of string -
it's like a default mode for you.
Ma
I'm the last man standing
..and I still have to go to trial.
REPORTER: It's judgment day
for the woman on trial
for getting her daughter pills.
She's attempting to get her case
thrown out on the grounds
of a recent human rights
..to consider the case of the woman
facing trial for giving abortion
pills to her underage daughter.
PHONE RINGS
Hello?
It's over!
Theresa, you're not guilty.
The prosecution offered
no evidence against you.
Theresa?
VOICE QUIVERING: Thank you.
I need a statement for the media -
they're outside, they're everywhere.
I'm all over the place.
Let me think, let me think.
Um
I find it hard to
..put into words how I'm feeling.
For the first time in six years,
I can go back to being the mother
that I was without this hanging
over me every minute of every day.
And I can finally move on
with my life.
"I am so thankful that the change
in the law will allow other women
"and girls to deal with matters
like this privately,
"in their own family circle."
My client has been put through
six years of agony.
I hope she can now be allowed
to put it behind her. Thank you.
Don't say anything.
Anything you say is just
going to make us cry again.
I was only going to say,
fancy a fish supper?
THEY LAUGH
Oh, God, you know what?
Yes. Cos I want to go down
to the chippy and boast about yous.
I want to tell the whole world
what my brave and beautiful women
just did.
God, don't you dare.
ORLA LAUGHS
Come on, son, let's go.
I'll join ya. Come on, then.
Do you know what's funny? Hmm?
I'd just gotten to the point
of really wanting my day in court.
Oh, my God, stop!
Oh, well.
First day of the rest of our lives,
huh?
HANNAH: ..46, 47, 48, 49,
50, 51, 52,
53, 54,
55, 56,
57, 58,
59
..60.
I'm pregnant.
She knew I was underage,
she knew he abused me.
She knew everything! And then
she asked me about the pills.
Could we have a word about
your daughter down at the station?
And we've decided that, yes,
we'll have the termination.
Well, you know that's not going
to happen. You will go on through
to the end of a normal pregnancy
and give birth to your baby
in the normal way.
Nothing about this is normal!
Nothing about this is right.
Your beautiful baby loves you.
Not so close, please.
How long will I get?
The maximum sentence is five years.
The government's considering
changing the law
on fatal foetal abnormality.
A woman's right to choose, end of.
No, we have to go for this.
There's women out there right now
being forced to give birth
to dead babies.
If it helps just one other person,
it'll be worth it.
I duly direct that the case be sent
up to the Crown Court to be tried
before a jury.
Your statement reads
really well, Hannah.
I think Judge Horner will take
it very seriously.
And, yes, we can keep your name
out of it.
"I would respectfully ask
that this court make an order
"that my identity should not
be revealed to any person."
That's the legal form of words.
Oh, yes, please, put that.
That would be a huge relief.
There's just one thing -
you were told
you'd missed the deadline
for a termination.
Because I was 23 weeks and six days,
yeah.
Over the water, in England,
with fatal foetal abnormality
..there is no deadline.
I didn't know.
II just accepted it. I
I didn't ask questions
I put the phone down!
Why will nobody ever give you
any proper information
in this country?
Government guidelines.
Vague ones. Strict but vague.
So strict and so vague
that our medics or nurses
..they've got too scared to tell
you anything about what's legal
and available.
Worried about their jobs.
Worried they could get prosecuted.
It's all wrong.
THERESA: I wasI was thinking that
human rights case might help us out.
I mean, I knowI know
it's a wee bit different, but
OK. Thanks, Rachel. Bye. Bye.
So a trial is listed to start
on the 27th of April
..for three weeks.
April? Next year?
This is a trial that was supposed
to happen before Christmas.
The trial your marvellous lawyer
said would never happen at all.
Quick, quick, quick, quick!
On you go!
Are we doing the right thing,
not telling the family
about the trial?
I'm the mother.
I ordered the pills,
it is my responsibility -
I will deal with it
as privately as I can, Mark, OK?
Nobody needs to know.
One day at a time.
I got it.
PROTESTERS CHAN
REPORTER: Angry protests outside
the High Court in Belfast today
against a landmark legal ruling.
The Northern Ireland
Human Rights Commission argued
that the almost total ban
on abortion law here
denies women
their fundamental rights.
And today, the High Court
has ruled in favour
of the pro-choice campaigners.
So that's it? We won? Did we?
Yes, the law is wrong, but, no.
Judge Horner says the courts
can't go ahead and permit abortions
in cases
of fatal foetal abnormality,
only an elected government
can do that.
The government? Stormont?
They're the problem
in the first place!
Don't tell us - tell the world.
It's a big step, Hannah.
Look, I can't talk.
I know, so just listen.
This human rights judgment
could be a real game changer
for us, Theresa.
It's potentially very good news.
I'm going to use it to ask
the Public Prosecution Service
and the police to drop their case
against you.
I want everyone to know how unjust
the law is here in Northern Ireland.
And I want the government
to understand
that no-one should ever
have to endure what I did.
I just can't sit back and do nothing
knowing there are other women
and families going through
the same thing.
And no-one should ever be forced
to continue with a pregnancy
if they don't want to.
And so the courts have sent
this most divisive of issues
back to politicians at Stormont.
You're not the girl I married.
In a good way?
A star is born!
Here, we'll have a glass of wine
to celebrate.
No, but you can make me
a cup of tea.
A big one - tea for two.
A baby?
I'm so scared.
Me too.
Scared
..and happy.
Which?
Choose.
Happy.
Look, we know
it was just a random thing,
what happened with Molly.
We got the all clear.
We know neither of us is a carrier.
But what if?
Nothing will go wrong this time.
It'll be the end of me if it does.
Went fine. Fine, fine -
God, what does fine mean?
It means, for an old girl,
I'm doing well.
SHE GIGGLES
Oh, and the baby takes after me.
As in? Long legs.
BOTH LAUGH
Are you calling me a short-arse?
Well, would you just rub
those wee legs together
and get home?
Your wish is my command.
Look up, look up.
HE LAUGHS
Oh, go! Go get him! Go!
Bringing you back
to Northern Ireland -
best thing I ever did.
Thanks.
Never thought
this would happen for me.
40's not old, not these days.
They mentioned
this quadruple blood test.
They offer that to anyone over 35.
Well, now I feel really ancient!
It's completely routine.
REPORTER: The headlines, again,
all change at the top
as Arlene Foster takes charge
of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
She's the first woman
First Minister in history.
Next news at 2pm.
I don't know,
might be nice to have a woman
in charge for a change.
I have no time for it -
all as bad as each other.
She's a mother herself,
so she's on the side of the angels
when it comes to the big stuff.
She proves you don't have to be
a Catholic to see that it's murder,
pure and simple.
Yeah, you know, those wee girls, you
know,
what if they've been raped,
for instance,
or were underage?
Two wrongs don't make a right.
Or is it the wee child's fault
how it got here?
And if he's disabled, so what?
He's still human.
He has rights.
Sorry, am I banging on?
Do you know what I think?
Orla. No, but I have an idea
you're about to tell me.
I think abortion is a woman's right
to choose. God in heaven!
I've had enough.
She's young.
She doesn't mean it,
I'm sorry. Orla.
Orla!
When did I ever bring you up
to be so rude?
She is a bigot and I can't stand
listening to her.
Louise is on her own.
It is tough for her.
And, you know, ifif you really
believed that abortion was murder,
you would fight to the death
to stop it, too.
Do you think what we did was murder?
Honestly? I don't know.
But I know I wouldI would do it
all again if I had to.
You'll catch your death
with that wet hair.
PHONE RINGS
Hello? Mrs Fortress?
That's me. It's Sheena,
the midwife from the hospital,
about the quadruple test you did.
Yes?
I get it, I do, but the test said
one in five,
a one-in-five chance
of this syndrome.
But that's not high, is it?
That means I'm 80% fine.
My baby is 80% fine.
Your scan shows clenched fists.
Can you see?
No.
There are cysts on her brain.
She has a diaphragmatic hernia,
her stomach is sitting
in her rib cage on top of her lungs
and her heart.
It's on the wrong side
of her body.
Dr Brewster, I've found children
surviving to the age of 18.
Those children have what's called
partial or mosaic Edwards'.
Well, well,
then we'll look it up again.
We'll get a second opinion.
Mrs Fortress, your baby
has full Edwards' syndrome -
every cell in her body is wrong.
I am so very sorry, but the syndrome
is incompatible with life.
And we need to talk about what to do
if she survives her birth.
She will be in a lot of pain,
so whether to attempt
resuscitation
..or just make her comfortable.
You can go to the mainland.
TOILET FLUSHES
Manchester or Liverpool.
I-I don't understand.
Just go to the mainland, love.
It's what all the women do,
what we've always done.
PIERCING TONE
ECHOING FOOTSTEPS
WHISPERS: Migraine.
REPORTER: To Stormont now,
where MLAs will vote today
on a controversial proposal
to allow abortion
in cases
of fatal foetal abnormality.
It follows Judge Horner's ruling
that the current law breaches
women's human rights.
I'm trying to be excited
rather than scared,
but it's just so many tests
and scans and monitoring.
I'm constantly
in and out of the clinic.
But, no, I would not rather be
sat on my bum at home.
SHE CHUCKLES
Not until after
I've stood right here,
at Stormont,
cheering on our victory.
You might have a bit of a wait.
The politicians up there'd argue
till kingdom come rather than make
any useful decisions.
Doesn't it ever get you down?
The long old grind of it.
I've been campaigning
for half a century.
An old trout like me has to learn
how to pace herself.
HANNAH LAUGHS, PHONE RINGS
Oh, God, is that the result? Hello?
Yes.
Oh, God, they voted it down?
They really think they can just go
against the High Court
in a human rights ruling?
Well, they can think again
because we are not going anywhere.
Up there,
abortion is the only thing
they all agree on.
APPLAUSE
CHEERING
NESBITT: It's Dickensian.
This is Bleak House we are in today,
in the chancery courts,
waiting day after day after day
after day
for a decision that never comes.
REPORTER: Following a passionate
debate at Stormont,
the proposal on fatal foetal
abnormality was defeated
by 59 votes to 40.
Attorney General John Larkin QC
has advised the change could breach
the UN Convention on the Rights
of Persons with Disability.
They don't know what they're saying,
they've not been through it.
John, I'm not sure
I can do this any more.
Your campaigning?
But you love it.
I just can't go out there and
..look cheerful
when inside I'm such a wreck.
I tell you what, then, why don't
the two of us stop at home
and be a couple of wrecks together?
SHE LAUGHS
Hmm?
No, no, love, go back to bed.
I'll bring you something. It's OK.
My migraine's gone.
It's four days this time.
Well, they're always so much worse
when I'm under stress.
Stress?
SHE LAUGHS BETWEEN TEARS
I think you accepted it was hopeless
before I did.
Maybe, but I'm not
the one going through it.
It's OK.
I'm ready.
OK.
Right, well, I've looked it all up,
and the law in Northern Ireland
clearly says you can get
a termination,
but only if the mother's life
is at risk,
or there must be a risk of real
and serious adverse effect
on her physical or mental health
..which is either long-term
or permanent.
Rosie, that's you, that's you.
SHE SIGHS
Well,
I have a fat old file to show them.
HE LAUGHS SOFTLY
ORLA: Ma, got any more teabags?
Look in that top cupboard.
I'm off to work, then.
Will I nip to the shop?
You OK? Well, I didn't get
much sleep either.
Orla caught me leaving the house
dressed like this -
the face on her.
Now, listen, Theresa,
I'm optimistic that the trial
may not start today, after all.
No. No, not more delays.
Our QC thinks we've got enough
to challenge the whole basis
of the prosecution.
I'm not going to see my wee boy
grow up, am I?
I'm going to lose my family
and my home,
and my son is going
to lose his mother,
and he's not even four yet!
He doesn't deserve this.
You don't deserve it either.
Jesus, I keep it together at home.
I don't let them see -
you're the only one.
But, Rachel
..you've worked so hard on this -
I mean, Jesus,
we're not even paying you -
but I just feel like giving up.
You're stronger than you know -
the strongest person I ever met.
Theresa,
I can fight this to my last breath
if I know you're right beside me.
We can do this.
OK?
FADING: There's no jury yet,
it's just legal arguments,
so you won't be sitting in court.
The judge has granted us
three weeks' delay.
It's good, it's good.
We're going to apply
for judicial review
to challenge the original decision
to prosecute.
We're saying that forcing Orla
to continue a crisis pregnancy
would have been inhuman
and degrading treatment,
in breach of her human rights.
She'll just be giving
a written statement.
No. She won't have
to stand up in court.
Look, she's 18 years old,
but she's still my child.
Theresa Theresa!
I said no. Orla's on the line.
You went to her behind my back?
No, of course not.
She found my number.
Orla?
ORLA: You let me think
it'd all just gone away.
I wanted to protect you.
You already did that, Ma.
You did it when I was a kid.
Now I'm not.
They're threatening to send
my one and only mummy to prison.
What am I meant to do without her?
Liam's only three.
You want me to just do nothing?
I want for this to be
so none of this ever happened.
What doesn't kill you
makes you stronger.
THERESA LAUGHS
OK, I read way too much
self-help shite. Mm-hm.
I mean it, though.
I want to help.
You want to help?
You could do a bit more washing-up.
ORLA LAUGHS
No, no, thank you.
Oh, worth a shot.
A month till your A levels,
and you need to concentrate.
Look, if I want to go see
this Rachel, I'll go see her.
I'll go on my own, I don't care.
Theresa, we talked about this.
We agreed to keep her out of it.
Excuse me, but this is all about me.
No, it's not. Listen to yourself.
Who's the one facing
five years behind bars?
And that's exactly
why I need to do this,
to make it all go away for her.
How do you not see that?!
Stop it, for Christ's sake,
the pair of yous.
Look, Orla, you're always saying
that you're a grown-up.
OK, can you ever just try
acting like one? I am, Ma.
This is what grown-up looks like -
standing up for myself.
I want everyone to hear
why she did it.
Mark, you're coming too.
I want you there.
Please.
Fine.
I was only 15 years old,
and I was frightened
..at the prospect of being a mother.
I was still a child myself.
Still at school.
And I had always planned
to do my A levels.
I wanted to go to university.
I had begun telling my mother
bit by bit
..about all the ways
that my ex-boyfriend had treated me.
The idea of him
..being the father of my child
..and being in my life
in the long term
made me physically ill.
I was also genuinely afraid
..that he could physically abuse
the child
..if I decided to go through
with the pregnancy.
Bringing it all back,
it's not fair.
She shouldn't have to do this.
I do, though.
I've never told you, Orla
..that you are brave
and clever and beautiful.
Your mother's daughter, 100%.
We're all in this together.
From now on.
ROSIE: A full-on nervous breakdown,
yes,
on top of these terrible migraines.
We were living in Birmingham
and I was ill, so ill,
for days and days on end -
sickness, diarrhoea -
and nothing could stop them.
I couldn't work, couldn't go out
And the pain, it's so intense
that it's crippling, really.
And I just reached
the end of my rope.
There was a psychotic episode,
and they wanted to take me
into hospital, but my husband
thought it might help me more
if they brought me home,
to Northern Ireland.
I said, "You don't know the place."
I can see a history of depression.
I believe my file shows
the risk to my mental health
is significant.
I believe I meet the legal test.
Abortion on mental health grounds
is really, in practice,
not possible.
Well, for a woman in my position,
though,
the law clearly states
Mrs Fortress,
the legal bar is set very high,
so high that
ROSIE STAMMERS
I am carrying a baby
with no chance of life.
I can see how distressing
this is for you.
But if you can't help me,
then who can? Where do I go?
I-I can't advise you on that.
You can't advise me?
But you're a doctor!
Look, we can manage your distress
withwith medication.
No
What if I were to say to you,
Dr Coleman,
that my distress
is so acute
that I am contemplating suicide?
What would you advise?
Again, medication.
That's medication that might
further harm my unborn child.
What do you advise?
Doctor, look at my file.
We have to work
within government guidelines.
No, but if I don't qualify,
then who does?
SEAGULLS CAW
£1,400.
Plus flights to Manchester, yeah.
Yeah, I'll start looking
at those now.
OK, thanks. Bye.
PIERCING TONE
ECHOING CAWS
MUFFLED ECHOING
LABOURED BREATHING
DRIVER: Is she OK?
I don't know if I can do this.
I can send the taxi away
and drive us myself.
I can't see. Rosie, if we don't go
now, we'll miss the flight,
we won't make the appointment.
Oh, Rosie
Is there anything I can do?
SHE COUGHS
SHE SOBS
Oh, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
Don't you ever say sorry to me.
Will I wait?
CAR DOOR CLOSES
I wish
I'd never brought you back here.
ENGINE STARTS
What's that? Lizards.
And what's that?
Bike.
SHE GASPS
He's going straight
to the top of the class.
ORLA: Mam!
She won the lottery? No.
Oh, my God.
I'm going to university!
LAUGHING AND CHEERING
Oh, well done!
You clever girl! Come here to me!
Oh, listen,
not for a year, though.
I'm going to defer. You will not.
No granddaughter of mine is going
to sit on a beach in Bali for a year
picking her nose.
I need to be here for my mummy.
Your mother will enjoy
the peace and quiet.
I know something's up.
I've known it for a while.
Look, Liam, do you want
to go upstairs with Orla?
She'll read you a wee story.
Yeah, come on. Good boy.
FOOTSTEPS FADE
This is a really big day for her.
Don't change the subject.
I'm not.
Three years ago,
we didn't know if she'd get here.
Drugs? No.
Pregnant?!
What'd you do, take her to England?
No, no.
I just
..got her some pills
off the internet.
Sure, there's a woman all over
the papers facing prison for that!
Yeah.
There is.
All this time, I've been thinking,
is it money worries?
Is her marriage failing?
Is it, God forbid, cancer?
SHE EXHALES SHARPLY
The sleep you've cost me, Theresa.
So why didn't you ever ask me?
Excuse me?
Who's in the wrong here?
My own daughter keeping something
as big as that from me?
What kind of mother
does that make me?
The type I always wanted to please
and never could.
No, that's unfair.
Come on, Mummy!
If I'd have come to you
three years ago, Jesus!
You're right.
I would've called the wrath
of heaven down upon you.
But the world is changing, pet.
I know that. I watch the news too.
Tell me what I can do to help.
You can wait with me, Mammy.
Waiting's all there is to it.
Oh
SHE GROANS SOFTLY
She's gone, isn't she?
I felt it.
The moment she died.
I felt her go.
The birth will be induced,
and I'll get you booked
into room five on Sunday.
Uh, room five?
It's what we call
the bereavement suite.
You've not long to wait, then.
Oh, I'm not as pregnant as I look.
My baby has Edwards' syndrome -
she can't absorb the amniotic fluid,
so I just get bigger and bigger.
Lord above!
I never heard of such a thing.
I'm going into room five
on Sunday
..and the baby I'll be bringing home
will be dead
..cos she's dead already.
I have to carry her around
inside me until Sunday.
And she's dead.
And
..I need something
for her to wear
..for whenever I bring her home.
But I can't see
..I can't see to choose.
This one's nice. This one's pretty.
SCREAMING
SCREAMING INTENSIFIES AND ECHOES
MUFFLED BABY CRIES
BABY CRIES
I dare think
she is the most beautiful baby
the world has ever seen.
She absolutely is.
She absolutely is.
Oh, my goodness, she is!
I'm looking forward to
a bit of a quiet life now.
SHE LAUGHS
With a baby in the house?
You know what I mean.
A quiet life.
BABY FUSSES AND CRIES
REPORTER: Northern Ireland is
without a government tonight
after the shock resignation
of Martin McGuinness.
Under the power-sharing rules,
his move forces
First Minister Arlene Foster
also to step down.
The Assembly will be dissolved
in the next number of days.
And that, of course, is deeply
regrettable, that Northern Ireland
will have no Assembly
and functioning executive
over the coming period.
The move ends a decade
of uneasy cooperation,
and all new legislation
currently before Stormont will fall,
including abortion law reform.
Oh, for God's sake.
Right. One more.
The Private Member's Bill, yes,
we'd high hopes of that,
but it won't happen now -
nobody left inside Stormont
to vote on anything.
No
Mother got the pills
for her daughter, yes.
Her judicial review is being set up.
So it would have to be today
that the lift stops working!
Oh, my God!
Can I call you back?
Oh! Thanks.
Oh!
It's so good to see you!
Oh, to see the both of yous.
Oh, look at her.
Oh, she's like her da.
All wee babies look like their da -
to stop the man from straying.
You and your nonsense!
Start her young - no time to lose.
Oh, yes. Yes, I'm here. Hello.
So what can I do to help?
After all the letters we wrote
and all the petitions
and all that work,
and what a waste of time
No, no, listen.
The government collapse
and the power vacuum in Stormont,
it's totally not a disaster for us.
It's an opportunity.
We're already talking to women
at Westminster.
Starting again.
Westminster?
How long is that going to take?
How long have you got?
So that was your judicial review.
Two whole days of lawyers in wigs
banging on,
and we're still going home
without an answer.
For God's sake
Reserve judgment?
What's that supposed to mean?
The judge has to go away
and think about it.
How are you not furious about that?
I know the waiting's hard.
I don't know how you're still
on your feet after five years
of it. What choice do I have?
I've got children.
I've got to keep going for them.
I'm got to keep going for you.
Huh?
No, I'm not having that.
I'm not that man.
I'm the one you used to chatter on
to day and night.
Before all this shite,
you were always ringing me up
about some nonsense.
We were friends, best friends.
We could talk about anything.
I miss that woman, Theresa.
I miss that life.
If I let go
..if I let it all out,
even with you
..that wee bit of strength
that I have left,
it'll all just leak away.
Just let me in. Hmm?
REPORTER: Our top story tonight -
should a mother go to prison
for helping her underage daughter
get an abortion?
The High Court in Belfast
has been hearing all the arguments
on the second day
of the landmark legal challenge.
The mother and daughter,
who cannot be named, are seeking
to overturn the decision
to prosecute
in advance of a criminal trial,
which could impose
a five-year prison sentence.
Our legal correspondent has spent
the day at the High Court
For God's sakes!
..listening to the arguments.
It's inhuman.
In seeking judicial review of
the Public Prosecution Service
decision to send her for trial,
the mother
PHONE RINGS
Right To Choose, Hannah speaking.
How can I help?
Oh, I was just listening about
that poor woman and her daughter.
Thought I wanted to help.
Well, that's terrific. Thank you.
Since Stormont went down the pan,
we've been encouraging everyone
to lobby the Westminster government
to change the law.
Can I take your name?
Only if you want to give it.
Mummy!
Sorry, I've got my daughter with me.
Uh
Maybemaybe I'll call back
another time.
No, no, please, please don't.
I'm sorry for your trouble,
whatever it's been for you.
My name's Hannah.
I'm Rosie.
Most of our friends
don't talk to us any more, you know.
"Why don't you just get over it?"
The thing is, I can't get over it.
I had a childand now I don't.
Will you try again?
No.
I'm too oldand too sad.
You know the worst thing, Hannah?
When they kept asking me
.."If she's born alive,
do you want us to resuscitate her?"
Like we only got the right to choose
after she was born.
You know, whenever we first heard
about this inquiry, I thought maybe
we'd get a nice trip to London
out of it.
And here we are in a glamorous
night out in Derry.
Hello, I'm Maria Miller, MP.
I'm chair of the Women
and Equalities Select Committee
of the House of Commons.
We're here from Westminster,
and we're really grateful to you
for coming along today.
We want to hear a little bit
from each of you about how the law
on abortion in Northern Ireland
has impacted you and your families.
So
Mrs Kennedy?
Abortion was never on my radar.
I had bought a house, got engaged,
got married, planned to have kids,
tried for a baby, fell pregnant,
and that was my path.
Sorry, I'm a wee bit nervous.
You're absolutely fine.
There is something I really want you
to know,
something that only really hit me
recently, five years later.
See, I was just talking
to this other woman, Rosie,
and the thing is, I was asked
what I wanted to happen
if my daughter was born alive.
Do we intervene and resuscitate,
or do we make her comfortable
and let her pass?
So I was given a choice.
Only then,
when she was no longer in my womb,
only then was I allowed
to decide. So
..to me and to Rosie,
that does not make sense.
NEWS INTRO MUSIC
Tonight, a potentially
game-changing moment,
as you've been hearing,
for pro-choice campaigners
in Northern Ireland, as Parliament
voted by a landslide
to legalise abortion.
The ayes to the right - 332,
the noes to the left - 99.
In the absence of an Assembly,
come October the 21st,
steps must be taken
to reform abortion laws here
to comply with human rights
legislation.
Yes!
There's a deadline now,
but they've still got three months.
Stormont could still get their act
together in time?
Hmm Even if we do get a new law
out of it, well, if it's imposed
by Westminster, it's
..it's unconstitutional,
is what it is.
It's imperialist.
Come on.
It's direct rule. I don't care.
That's cos you're a Protestant!
No, it's because I'm a woman!
LAUGHTER
REPORTER: Thousands of pro-life
campaigners have gathered
at Stormont to mount
a silent protest.
The organisers claim support
from all religious backgrounds
and political persuasions,
united against
the Westminster deadline,
which, come October the 21st,
will impose liberalisation
of the law against their will.
Their message, "We were not asked.
They cannot speak."
DOOR OPENS
Maybe the politicians
will pull something off.
Sort themselves out at Stormont
before the deadline.
No.
I don't think so.
Thanks for coming, Theresa.
I got home from Stormont,
and I thought, "It's just hopeless.
"The bad guys are winning,
and there's nothing I can do.
"Who can I call who won't tell me
I'm an idiot?" Don't be daft.
We're always here for each other,
aren't we?
Here, do you know what?
I didn't like you
when I first met you.
THERESA LAUGHS
Well, I liked you.
Well, I liked everyone
when I was eight years old.
Always so calm and forgiving.
Always picking me out of fights
and dusting me down.
I wish you'd find the comfort here
that I do.
Pope Francis says
every child that isn't born
but is unjustly condemned
to be aborted
has the face of Jesus Christ.
The face of the Lord.
Maybe the wee girls
have his face too
..when we send them
across the water.
If you want the truth, Louise,
the reason I've stayed away
from the church is because
..I didn't know
how to be a good Catholic
and a good mother to a teenage girl.
Whatever you do in your life
..God is kind and patient
..and He loves you.
REPORTER: Deadline day at Stormont,
where the political parties
have until midnight to agree
to form an administration.
The stakes are high.
If they fail to overcome
their differences, the Westminster
government will step in
to impose abortion law reform.
We're just hearing now
from inside Stormont.
DUP leader Arlene Foster
has conceded defeat
in her last-ditch attempt
to re-establish the collapsed
power-sharing government.
It means, as of tonight, abortion
is no longer a criminal offence
in Northern Ireland.
SHE SIGHS
It is a very sad day,
and I know some people
will seek to celebrate today,
and I would say to those people,
think of those of us
who are sad today and who believe
that this is an affront
to human dignity and to human life.
I think that the circus
I never thought I'd find myself
warming to that DUP woman.
Hmm.
She's shown a deal of dignity.
We won't give up, no way.
We'll get it overturned.
Night, love.
Are the real doctors and nurses
willing to do it, anyway?
He's already done it, Ma.
Yeah, I know, but he never really
does the worktops properly.
You're such a mother hen.
Admit it, you even mother
a piece of string -
it's like a default mode for you.
Ma
I'm the last man standing
..and I still have to go to trial.
REPORTER: It's judgment day
for the woman on trial
for getting her daughter pills.
She's attempting to get her case
thrown out on the grounds
of a recent human rights
..to consider the case of the woman
facing trial for giving abortion
pills to her underage daughter.
PHONE RINGS
Hello?
It's over!
Theresa, you're not guilty.
The prosecution offered
no evidence against you.
Theresa?
VOICE QUIVERING: Thank you.
I need a statement for the media -
they're outside, they're everywhere.
I'm all over the place.
Let me think, let me think.
Um
I find it hard to
..put into words how I'm feeling.
For the first time in six years,
I can go back to being the mother
that I was without this hanging
over me every minute of every day.
And I can finally move on
with my life.
"I am so thankful that the change
in the law will allow other women
"and girls to deal with matters
like this privately,
"in their own family circle."
My client has been put through
six years of agony.
I hope she can now be allowed
to put it behind her. Thank you.
Don't say anything.
Anything you say is just
going to make us cry again.
I was only going to say,
fancy a fish supper?
THEY LAUGH
Oh, God, you know what?
Yes. Cos I want to go down
to the chippy and boast about yous.
I want to tell the whole world
what my brave and beautiful women
just did.
God, don't you dare.
ORLA LAUGHS
Come on, son, let's go.
I'll join ya. Come on, then.
Do you know what's funny? Hmm?
I'd just gotten to the point
of really wanting my day in court.
Oh, my God, stop!
Oh, well.
First day of the rest of our lives,
huh?
HANNAH: ..46, 47, 48, 49,
50, 51, 52,
53, 54,
55, 56,
57, 58,
59
..60.