Abortion Northern Ireland: Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris announces funding for abortion services across the Province
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has announced ringfenced funding to provide abortion services across Northern Ireland, potentially marking the last leg of a long campaign by pro-choice activists.
In his budget statement on Thursday Chris Heaton-Harris said that the latest budget provides £7.28bn in funding for health, which he said is £786m more than last year, when Covid funding is removed from consideration.
"This will protect spending to address the critical health pressures in Northern Ireland," he said.
"It also ring-fences funding for abortion services, as ensuring availability of services is a statutory duty on me as Secretary of State."
The Northern Ireland Office and Department of Health did not provide any further clarity on exactly how much is ringfenced for abortion services.
Liberalised abortion laws were imposed on Northern Ireland in 2019 by Westminster, however deadlock at Executive level means that no progress had been made in rolling out clinics.
In May, the UK Government took legislative action to empower the Secretary of State to control the matter in NI and in October Mr Heaton-Harris announced that he would commission the abortion clinics across NI.
Grainne Teggart, Deputy Director in Northern Ireland for Amnesty International, welcomed the confirmation of necessary ring-fenced funds for abortion services.
"The only way to ensure this healthcare is available and accessible to all who need it is through the urgent establishment of commissioned services with the required funding to sustain provision,” she said.
“Our law respects and protects choice, it’s long past time that we had fully funded services to match”.
However, Liam Gibson of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children disagreed.
"The health service in Northern Ireland is strapped for cash, with some of the worst waiting times anywhere in the NHS,” he said.
"But despite this, the Northern Ireland Office is so determined to end the lives of innocent unborn children that it will use money earmarked for the preservation of health to push through its radical abortion agenda."
Abolish Abortion NI spokesman Mark Lambe said: "We call for the Secretary of State to resign, with over 4,000 dead babies in Northern Ireland since March 2020 this is a slap in the face for all decent citizens who respect the value of life."