Unionists voice dismay as Tory Northern Ireland Secretary says he will impose new 'sex and relationships' education on the Province from London - including teaching children they have a right to abortion

Meanwhile the TUV accused him of imposing “left-wing ideology” onto pupils, and advised parents to opt-out of having their children sit through such classes.

It comes against a backdrop of DUP displeasure with Mr Heaton-Harris over his ongoing calls for the party to drop its boycott of Stormont over the Irish Sea border.

– CONVENTION NI ‘BREACHED’ DOES NOT MENTION ABORTION –

Tuesday’s developments are actually the result of a torturous bureaucratic chain of events, dating back to 1981.

That year, the UK signed up to something called the ‘Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women’ at the UN.

A new clause was tacked on to the convention in 1999, allowing a UN group called the ‘Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women’ to investigate if it “receives reliable information indicating grave or systematic violations”.

Neither the original 1981 convention, nor the 1999 amendment, mention abortion.

But in 2010, complaints were made to the UN by groups including feminist pro-choice activists Alliance For Choice, saying that “Northern Ireland has committed grave and systematic violations of rights under the Convention owing to the restrictive access to abortion”.

Then in 2018, the committee issued the findings of its investigation.

Among many other things, its investigators complained of “the prevalence of discriminatory gender stereotypes portraying a woman’s primary role as that of mother” in Northern Ireland, as well as “politicians’ statements that vilify women and foment negative stereotypes regarding reproduction”.

It also attacked the “religious condemnation of women who undergo an abortion” and said the government’s “failure to combat stereotypes depicting women primarily as mothers” was a breach of the 1981 convention.

In short it said that Northern Ireland’s relatively strict abortion laws amounted to “mental or physical suffering constituting violence against women” and may even be classed as “torture”.

As well as saying such laws be relaxed, the committee also said Northern Ireland needs “age-appropriate, comprehensive and scientifically accurate education on sexual and reproductive health and rights [as] a compulsory component of curriculum for adolescents, covering prevention of early pregnancy and access to abortion”.

Finally, in 2019, Tory government made a legally-binding pledge to implement these recommendations – leading to Tuesday’s announcement by Chris Heaton-Harris that a new curriculum will be imposed from July 1 onwards.

He stressed that lessons given to pupils “should be done in a factual way that does not advocate, or oppose, a particular view on the moral and ethical considerations of abortion or contraception”.

– ‘HEATON-HARRIS IS HOSTILE TO OPINIONS OTHER THAN HIS OWN –

DUP MP Carla Lockhart responded by saying: “We know this Secretary of State is deeply hostile to opinions that are odds with his own, regardless of the legitimacy and widespread support for such opinions.

"In Northern Ireland there remains a majority opinion against abortion, yet the Secretary of State now wants to promote abortion to children and young people based on his interpretation of ‘scientifically accurate’ education.”

Diane Dodds MLA added her voice, saying: “There is silence or inaction from the Secretary of State and the Government on a wide range of commitments – with the sole exception of abortion services.

"It is a clear demonstration of where their priorities lie.”

Meanwhile the TUV’s Jim Allister said: “At the very time when the NIO has introduced a mean budget which has put pressure on schools across the Province, they find time to meddle in such matters.

"I would remind parents that they retain the right to absent their children from the teaching of relationships and sex education, and with these latest changes I would positively encourage them to exercise that right.

"It is scandalous that the NIO is prepared to underfund education but impose left wing ideology when it comes to RSE.”

More from this reporter:

This is NI’s current abortion regime, introduced in 2020 – click here

• ‘Abortion is love’: US Supreme Court judgement continues to make waves across Northern Ireland

• Pro-life group queries OBE for Belfast abortion provider in New Year Honours