Abortion: Westminster warns it is ready to intervene again over full access in NI

Robin Walker MP, the minister for state for Northern Ireland, made the comments in the House of Commons as he was quizzed about the current law in the Province.

The whole issue dates back to summer 2019.

At that time MPs in Westminster passed a law which said if the Northern Irish devolved government was not restored by late October, then the London government would act to change the law on terminations, bypassing the NI Assembly altogether – a move which outraged anti-abortion groups.

As of March 31 of last year, the government announced that a “new abortion framework” had entered force in Northern Ireland, allowing:

> Abortion for any reason up to 12 weeks;

> Abortion up to 24 weeks “in cases where the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or girl, greater than the risk of terminating the pregnancy”;

> And abortions with no time limit “to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or girl”, in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities, and in cases of “severe fetal impairment”.

But whilst the law had changed, it was still left up to Stormont’s Department of Health to order abortion procedures to begin.

The lack of such central planning has meant that in the last year, abortion provision (or lack of it) has varied across different health trust areas, angering pro-choice campaigners who want consistent, Province-wide access to terminations.

For example, just days ago the NI Human Rights Commission hit out at “the failure of the NI Executive and department to agree to fund and commission these services” – indicating that this was a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Speaking in Parliament today Stella Creasy (the Labour MP for Walthamstow, who has been vocal about liberalising abortion law in Northern Ireland) demanded the government “act to intervene now”.

Mr Walker (effectively the government’s second-in-charge representative to Northern Ireland after NI Secretary Brandon Lewis) said he was “continuing to engage with the minister of health and his department on commissioning full services” – but added that he is also “considering further legislative action at Westminster”.

Pressed on the same matter by Alliance MP Stephen Farry, he said: “We do want to see progress on this issue, we would continue to prefer it to be delivered by the devolved institutions. But as I’ve said already, we stand ready to act if that progress is not made.”

Reflecting a commonly cited pro-life concern, DUP MP Carla Lockhart said that having abortion on demand up to 12 weeks means “sex selective abortion” is allowed (for example, terminations of female foetuses if the parents wanted a son).

Mr Walker said: “The government publishes an annual analysis of the male-to-female birth ratio for England and Wales. The latest reports show no evidence to indicate this is an issue.”

The Department of Health published a report today on both abortions carried out locally, and those performed in England and Wales.

During 2019/20 there were 22 terminations in Northern Ireland.

But during the calendar year 2019, a total of 1,023 Northern Irish women and girls travelled to England and Wales for an abortion (with nearly all such procedures publicly funded).

More on this topic:

Click here: Government ushers in abortion up to point of birth in Northern Ireland – despite overwhelming consultation opposition

Click here: Health officials discuss possible 6,500 abortions per year in Northern Ireland

Click here: Abortion up until birth ‘technically possible’ says medical body leader – but extremely unlikely

Click here: Pro-choice MLA Trevor Lunn: New abortion rules ‘grotesque’, ‘immoral’ and ‘not humane’

Click here: New Presbyterian moderator: We do not judge women who have had multiple abortions

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