Pro-life lobby welcomes withdrawal of abortion bill

Anti-abortion campaigners have welcomed the withdrawal of controversial new abortion regulations for Northern Ireland just days before they were due to be voted on at Westminster.
By Mark Rainey
Published 8th May 2020, 21:28 BST
An anti-abortion rally on the steps of Parliament Buildings at Stormont. Declan Roughan/PresseyeAn anti-abortion rally on the steps of Parliament Buildings at Stormont. Declan Roughan/Presseye
An anti-abortion rally on the steps of Parliament Buildings at Stormont. Declan Roughan/Presseye

The new legislation – allowing terminations for any reason up to week 12 of pregnancy – was introduced by NI Secretary Brandon Lewis earlier this year, but requires parliamentary approval to become law.

However, a number of pro-life groups have lobbied tirelessly in the hope of preventing the The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 from being ratified.

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Although the bill in its current format has been withdraw, it is understood the Northern Ireland Office will resubmit an amended version in the near future.

Bernadette Smyth of Precious Life said the proposed legislation had been withdrawn “directly because of overwhelming and sustained public pressure from pro-life people in Northern Ireland”.

She said: “The UK Government’s radical abortion agenda has been met with persistent and vocal opposition from the people of Northern Ireland in recent months, with the majority of respondents to the government’s public consultation speaking overwhelmingly in opposition to abortion”.

The Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child (SPUC) also welcomed the government’s decision, saying: “The rule of law and democratic procedures were brushed aside in a rush to create the most extreme abortion regime in Europe.”

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TUV leader Jim Allister there is now an onus on the secretary of state “to act urgently as abortion remains totally unregulated as a result,” and added: “It was always my belief that the regulations went well beyond what the law required and it was nothing short of disgraceful that the government was so dismissive of the strong opposition manifest in the responses they received to their consultation. There should be a fundamental rethink...on this issue”.