Almost 8000 abortions in NI since decriminalisation in 2020 says Department of Health

TUV leader Jim Allister pointed out that by contrast only 65 took place from 2014-2019, before NI legislation was relaxed.

Mr Allister said that on the only occasion when the public were given the opportunity to express an opinion on abortion, 79% of the 21,200 responses to the consultation opposed relaxing the law in NI.

He added: “In spite of what some in the media may try to claim, there is still considerable opposition to abortion in Northern Ireland and there will be many who will share my alarm at the growth in the number of abortions in our province.”

But pro-choice campaigner Goretti Horgan said that before decriminalisation in NI some 1,500 to 2,000 women a year travelled to England for abortions.

She countered that the figures provided by the Department of Health would be “pretty much the number that would have gone to England” if decriminalisation had not take place.

Meanwhile, senior Tory Sir Liam Fox has tabled an amendment which would end the legal right to abort babies with Down's syndrome up until birth in England and Wales.

In England the abortion time limit for regular pregnancies is set at 24 weeks (around six months), but for cases in which a baby is thought to have a disability, including Down’s syndrome, there is no time limit – abortion can take place right up until birth.

The amendment would bring down the time limit for babies with Down’s syndrome to 24 weeks also. It will not impact NI.

It will be debated and voted on as part of the Criminal Justice Bill in Parliament following the Easter recess.

Coventry woman Heidi Crowter, who has Down’s syndrome, is currently fighting a legal action in the courts on exactly the same issue.

By contrast in Northern Ireland abortions can take place for all pregnancies right up until birth – whether there is a disability or not – since decriminalisation.

Campaign group Don't Screen Us Out says there were 859 abortions involving Down's syndrome in England and Wales in the year ending 2021, an increase of 24% from 2020.