London is forcing an extreme abortion regime on Northern Ireland

The Conservative government, which claims to take a neutral stance on abortion, has moved forward with directly undermining devolution to force more abortion on Northern Ireland

This is while there is a sitting NI Assembly, pictured, which has been elected by the people of Northern Ireland, to make decisions on devolved matters including abortion. This extraordinary move is essentially direct rule from Westminster on an immensely sensitive subject, by going much further beyond the minimum legal change required by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) recommendations.

It appears that abortion advocates in the government are more than willing to ignore Stormont’s devolved powers in their pursuit of abortion expansion, no matter what the cost.

The government is forcing one of the most extreme abortion regimes in Europe on the people of Northern Ireland. This includes disability-selective abortion up to the point of birth for all disabilities, including cleft lip, cleft palate, club foot and Down’s syndrome along with de facto abortion on demand through to 24 weeks and allowing sex-selective abortion through 12 weeks.

It’s beyond belief to see the government claim in their statement that the extreme abortion regime they have chosen to force on Northern Ireland, which goes far beyond what it is legally required to introduce, is ‘sensitive to the circumstances in Northern Ireland’’.

Parties in Northern Ireland are right to be concerned about the undermining of the devolution settlement. As many have already suggested, quite what is the point of devolution if it can simply be ignored when the Northern Ireland Executive fails to make a decision that Westminster wants them to make?

The passing of the Severe Fetal Impairment Abortion (Amendment) Bill by such an overwhelming majority of MLAs and the huge public support behind this Bill shows that there is no appetite for further Westminster imposition of abortion on Northern Ireland.

Catherine Robinson, Right To Life UK

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