UK govt could make Northern Ireland health trusts offer abortion services
Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis could override Stormont and mandate that Northern Irish health trusts offer abortion services, according to a leaked letter obtained by The Guardian newspaper today.
In the letter allegedly addressed to first minister and DUP leader Paul Givan, and his deputy, Michelle O’Neill, Mr Lewis said that he may “have no alternative but to take further steps to ensure that women and girls have access to abortion services as decided by parliament, and to which they have a right”.
In a further letter to Northern Ireland health minister Robin Swann, Mr Lewis demanded a comprehensive assessment of progress to date, saying that it was “unacceptable” that UK government officials had been blocked from meetings with his department.
The leak claims that Lewis said was “entirely unacceptable” that Stormont continue to block Westminster’s legal guidelines, and said NI politicians had a “moral duty” to permit abortion as in the rest of the UK.
This is the latest in a long line of tense wranglings between Stormont and Westminster over the issue.
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.
Earlier this month a High Court Judge ruled that Mr Lewis, has failed to carry out his duties to provide full abortion services in the region.
The case was brought forward by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, against the Northern Ireland Executive, the Department of Health and the Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis for an “abdication of legal responsibility”.
The pro life charity Right To Life UK issued a lengthy statement in light of the news. Their spokesperson Catherine Robinson, said today: “The Conservative Government, which claims to take a neutral stance on abortion, is threatening to further undermine devolution to force more abortion on Northern Ireland. This is while there is a sitting Northern Ireland Assembly, which has been elected by the people of Northern Ireland, to make decisions on devolved matters including abortion.
“This extraordinary move is essentially direct rule from Westminster on an immensely sensitive subject, by going much further beyond the minimum legal change required by the CEDAW recommendations. It appears that abortion advocates in the Government are more than willing to ignore Stormont’s devolved powers in their pursuit of abortion expansion, no matter what the cost.
“The Government is forcing one of the most extreme abortion regimes in Europe on the people of Northern Ireland. This includes disability-selective abortion up to the point of birth for all disabilities, including cleft lip, cleft palate, club foot and Down’s syndrome along with de facto abortion on demand through to 24 weeks and allowing sex-selective abortion through 12 weeks.
“Parties in Northern Ireland are right to be concerned about the undermining of the devolution settlement. As many have already suggested, quite what is the point of devolution if it can simply be ignored when the Northern Ireland Executive fails to make a decision that Westminster wants them to make?
“We welcome Paul Givan’s push back against this irresponsible attempt by Westminster to force its radical pro-abortion agenda on the people of Northern Ireland. There is little support for these extreme measures 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 Committee Stage passing of the Severe Fetal Impairment Abortion (Amendment) Bill and the huge public support behind this Bill shows that there is no appetite for further Westminster imposition of abortion on Northern Ireland”.
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service, the UK’s leading provider of abortion services reacted to the news via Twitter this morning, writing:
“Northern Irish women are still waiting for the abortion services they were promised more than 2 years ago.
“We’re glad the @NIOgov seems finally to be taking the action NI’s own government refuses to.
“Abortion is available in Northern Ireland thanks only to the work of a small group of dedicated doctors and nurses. But too many women are still forced to travel to England to access the care they should be able to get at home.
“These doctors and nurses need the support of their health trusts and the government to be able to provide comprehensive services to Northern Irish women. It shouldn’t take the instruction of a Secretary of State to do that, but it seems that it will.”
