Sex education Northern Ireland: Consultation reports 73% oppose Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris plans for compulsory abortion RSE lessons

Mr Heaton-Harris directed the Department of Education to publish new curriculum guidance for schools by 1 January 2024, which has now been done.

In June he issued a controversial statement which appeared to demand that Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) lessons for NI must now teach access to abortion but exclude any religious or ethical discussion about it - contrary to legal requirements for schools in England.

According to departmental figures today, the vast majority of respondents to a consultation on the matter opposed his directive; The department said that 23.84% agreed with him, but 73.17% disagreed and 2.89% did neither.

DUP Education Spokesperson Diane Dodds said the results demonstrate that issues such as abortion cannot be taught in a moral vacuum.

“Nearly three-quarters of respondents disagreed with the proposal that issues such as abortion should effectively be taught within a moral vacuum,” she said.

“That is vindication of our stance that a sensitive and emotive issue such as abortion simply cannot be discussed outside of a wider framework of moral and ethical perspectives.

"There was an overwhelming majority of 91% who agreed that parents should be informed about the nature and content of RSE curriculum.”

TUV leader Jim Allister said he was concerned that the new guidance on opting children out of such lessons “has to be renewed every year” and that “a parent’s wish to withdraw their child from lessons is only to be recognised as long as the child does not object”.

Mark Lambe of the Campaign Against RSE that the new guidance does not reflect the intentions of Mr Heaton-Harris.

“It is, therefore, inevitable that the Secretary of State will pass further regulations to impose an even more extreme RSE curriculum in the coming months,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the Secretary of State said he was under a statutory duty to implement in full the recommendations on teaching abortion in Northern Ireland made by the New York-based UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.

She added: "The Department of Education is responsible for implementing the changes to the curriculum, and we continue to work closely with them.”

The consultation response report can be viewed on the department’s website here.

The new departmental RSE guidance for schools can now be read here.