Second legal challenge to Northern Ireland abortion laws begins

A second legal challenge over the implementation of abortion services in Northern Ireland will begin at the Belfast High Court later today.

In July 2019 MPs backed an amendment to the NI Executive Formation Bill that legalised abortion in the region. However full services have not been commissioned due to the Northern Ireland Assembly’s failure to agree on plans.

If services are fully commissioned abortion will be available through to 24 weeks and disability-selective abortion will be available up to the point of birth for disabilities, as in England and Wales.

In July, the UK government said Stormont must set up full services by no later than March 2022, and called for “immediate support” for early medical abortion services.

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) is arguing that the secretary of state for Northern Ireland Brandon Lewis has overridden the devolution settlement to impose the measures, as abortion is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland.

A separate judicial review is currently being undertaken by Northern Ireland’s Human Rights Commission, which has criticised both Stormont and Westminster over the delay in implementing full abortion services. The case was heard in May.

In May, proposals from Ulster Unionist Party Health Minister Robin Swann on commissioning of services were blocked by the Democratic Unionist Party.

Sinn Féin, the SDLP and Alliance have said they would support Westminster intervention to commission services if the executive does not implement them.

A spokesperson for the pro-life charity Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said: “There is little support for this extreme abortion regime in Northern Ireland, and it is shameful that the UK Government deems it appropriate to undermine devolution for the purpose of installing one of the most extreme abortion regimes in Europe.

“The passing of a Bill to repeal sections of the new abortion regime by an overwhelming majority at Stormont earlier this year along with the huge public support behind that Bill shows that there is no appetite for further Westminster imposition of abortion on Northern Ireland”.

A UK government spokesperson said: “We are committed to upholding the rights of women and girls in Northern Ireland to ensure that they have safe and lawful access to local, high-quality abortion services.

“It is unacceptable that women and girls continue to be denied the same rights as women in the rest of the United Kingdom.

“Parliament clearly decided that a safe, local and accessible abortion service must be implemented in Northern Ireland. The devolution settlement does not absolve us of our responsibility to uphold the rights of women and girls.”