to Northern Ireland; Assembly member John O'Dowd said that they were "opposed to the attitudes and forces in society, which pressurise women to have abortions, and criminalise those who make this decision", adding that "in cases of rape, incest or sexual abuse, or where a woman's life and health is at risk or in grave danger, we accept that the final decision must rest with the woman." It voted for the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013, which allowed for termination in cases where a pregnancy endangered a woman's life. It voted to support termination, in those limited circumstances, at the 2015 , but stopped short of supporting abortion on demand. In the 2018 Irish abortion referendum, the party campaigned for a "Yes" vote, while remaining opposed to abortion without restriction up to 12 weeks. At its in June 2018, the month after the "yes" vote in the abortion referendum, the party committed itself to supporting abortion, including without restriction up to 12 weeks. This allowed it not only to support abortion legislation in the Republic, but also to campaign for provision of abortion in Northern Ireland. Sinn Féin TD Peadar Tóibín, who was suspended from the party for voting against abortion legislation, left to form a new party: Aontú. Sinn Féin have been accused of hypocrisy over their positions on abortion in Northern Ireland. In 2021, Sinn Féin abstained on a Stormont vote on restricting abortion access in the case of fetal abnormalities or disabilities, attracting criticism from both anti-abortion and pro-choice groups, with the Abortion Rights Campaign saying they "let down abortion seekers" and Eamonn McCann accusing them of being "impaled on the fence on the issue", but with anti-abortion politicians such as Peadar Tóibín accusing them of "speaking out of both sides of their mouth" on the issue. Later in the year, Amnesty International made a public statement calling on the party to "support full abortion rights across the island of Ireland". International relations Sinn Féin has longstanding fraternal ties with the African National Congress and was described by Nelson Mandela as an "old friend and ally in the anti-apartheid struggle". Sinn Féin supports the independence of Catalonia from Spain, Palestine in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and the right to self-determination regarding independence of the Basque Country from Spain and France. Sinn Féin opposes the United States embargo against Cuba and has called for a normalization of