Tory leadership hustings: Liz Truss rejects call to abolish abortion in Northern Ireland

Abortion laws in the Province were liberalised in 2019 in laws passed by Westminster at a time when the power-sharing government at Stormont had collapsed.

During the Conservative Party leadership hustings event at the Culloden Hotel on the outskirts of Belfast, Ms Truss was asked if she would abolish abortion in Northern Ireland, “ending infanticide”, or let the people of the region have their say on the issue.

She responded to applause: “I’m afraid I don’t agree with you.

“We are a United Kingdom and we need all of our laws to apply right across the United Kingdom – that is what being a union is.”

Two NI Conservative members asked Ms Truss about abortion.

George, from south Antrim, said Westminster had “undemocratically and unconstitutionally imposed abortion on Northern Ireland, something which the vast majority of people here are against”.

He asked whether Ms Truss would be a “modern day William Wilberfore” and abolish abortion in the Province, or “will you just let the people of Northern Ireland have their say on this issue?”.

Another questioner described the law in Northern Ireland as “extremely severe” and asked the Tory candidate to “repeal section 9”, which provides the legal framework for abortion services in the Province.