DUP MP Carla Lockhart to meet Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris over decision to commission abortion services for Northern Ireland
Liberal abortion laws for Northern Ireland were passed at Westminster in 2019 in the absence of a devolved, powersharing Assembly at Stormont.
Last week, the UK government announced that it will commission abortion services for women and girls, after the Department of Health had indicated it could not do so without the agreement of the Stormont Executive which has not sat since February.
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Hide AdThe DUP's Carla Lockhart has now accused the government of "flying in the face of devolution" and "forcing" the decision on Northern Ireland.
She is due to meet with Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris to discuss the issue on Wednesday.
"his is a devolved issue that should be for the Stormont parties to decide,” she told the News Letter ahead of the meeting.
"I am due to meet the Secretary of State on Wednesday evening in reference to the abortion issue.It's to warn against flying in the face of devolution again."
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Hide AdShe continued: “Once again, this is the government picking and choosing what it wants to force on the people of Northern Ireland. If you go back to the consultation on this particular piece of legislation, over 70% of the responses were opposed to these extreme abortion laws.
“And yet, the government have railroaded it, forced it through and are continuing to force it through.”Announcing his decision last week, Mr Heaton-Harris said: “The UK government has been clear that the government would commission abortion services if the Department of Health did not act to provide them.”It is unfortunate that we have been forced to commission these services, in what should be a matter for the Department of Health to implement.
"“However, the government has been left with no other option, as women and girls of NI have been without safe and high quality services, with many having to travel to the rest of the UK to access healthcare to which they are legally entitled. That is unacceptable.”