"A massive victory."

Northern Ireland's abortion ban is a breach of human rights, the High Court has ruled. The court made the landmark decision today following a case brought forward by Sarah Ewart, a woman who was forced to travel to England for a termination in 2013. Ewart had been told her baby would not survive outside of the womb due to a rare brain defect. She could not access a termination in Northern Ireland due to the country's strict abortion laws. Sky News reports that Ewart called today's ruling "a turning point for women in their campaign against the outdated laws prohibiting abortion in Northern Ireland." "It should never have come to this," she said. "Today's ruling is a vindication of all those women who have fought tirelessly to ensure that we never again have to go through what I did in 2013." Ewart added that the case caused "massive stress emotionally on all the family" but that the ruling is "a massive victory." Mrs Justice Siobhan Keegan said that Ewart's personal testimony was "compelling" and that such "trauma and pain" should be avoided in the future. "I cannot see that this would serve any benefit or it would be right to ask another woman to relive the trauma," she said. Abortion is illegal in Northern Ireland except in cases where there is a substantial risk to the life of the mother, or a serious risk to her physical or mental health. Earlier this summer, British MPs backed a plan to legalise both abortion and same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland if there is  no government in place at Stormont by October 21.