The high court of England ruled in May that women in Northern Ireland, unlike those living in other parts of the UK, are not entitled to free abortion care from the National Health Service (NHS), BBC News reported. The court rejected a case from a mother and daughter after the then-15-year-old was denied an abortion in Northern Ireland and they were forced to go to England for the procedure.

The disparity stems from the 1967 Abortion Act, which allows abortion up to 24 weeks in England, Scotland and Wales but was never extended to Northern Ireland. The current laws in Northern Ireland allow abortion to save a woman’s life, or if there is a risk of permanent and serious damage to her mental or physical health. With these stringent requirements, only 51 abortions were performed in the region’s hospitals in 2013, according to the Northern Ireland Department of Health. The more than 1,000 women who travel from Northern Ireland to other parts of the UK to receive abortion care every year are forced to pay for travel as well as the cost of the procedure, the Guardian reports, although the Abortion Support Network helps offset these expenses for some Northern Irish women.