UK to commission abortion services in North due to ‘continued inaction’

The UK government has intervened to commission abortion services in Northern Ireland due to “continued inaction” by the Department of Health, Northern Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has said.

Mr Heaton-Harris announced the move on Monday and confirmed plans to meet the chief executives of health trusts in the coming weeks to ensure services are provided.

Strict abortion legislation in the North was overturned in March 2020, a year after a landmark vote to change the law was carried by Westminster MPs at a time when Stormont had collapsed.

As abortion is a devolved matter, a March 31st, 2022, deadline was set for the Department of Health to get approval from the Stormont executive to fund and set up services.

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Following the collapse of the executive in February after the DUP’s first minister Paul Givan resigned, terminations have only been offered on an ad hoc basis in individual health trusts.

In May, new regulations introduced by the UK government removed the need for the executive to approve plans, meaning the Department of Health could centrally commission services.

Mr Heaton-Harris said it was “not right” that women and girls cannot access healthcare to which they are “lawfully entitled” three years on from “abortion being decriminalised in Northern Ireland”.

“Today, I have announced the UK Government will commission abortion services in Northern Ireland following continued inaction from @healthdpt [Department of Health],” he tweeted.

“For too long, women and girls of Northern Ireland have been denied access to basic healthcare.”

In a written statement to parliament on Monday, he expressed “regret” that the UK government was forced to intervene, as it “ought to be a matter for the Department of Health to implement”.

“The Government has been left with no other option, as women and girls have been left without safe and high quality services, with many having to travel to the rest of the UK or turn to the unregulated market to access healthcare,” he said.

The DUP is opposed to abortion — party MP Carla Lockhart warned the UK government in May not to “muddy the waters by wading in on an issue that is devolved” — and has refused to agree to the issue being tabled on the agenda of the powersharing executive.

Amnesty International UK welcomed the commissioning of services but warned that necessary funding must be allocated “so that they can run effectively and are accessible — not just in law but in practice”.

“Today’s announcement marks a critical step towards ending the denial of abortion healthcare. Westminster has yet again had to intervene to ensure people aren’t denied their right to abortion,” said Grainne Teggart, Amnesty International UK’s Northern Ireland deputy director.

Access to abortion has been available in the North since April 2020 after the new laws came into force. Services currently offered mostly consist of early medical terminations up to 10 weeks of pregnancy.

Ruairi Rowan, director of advocacy and policy at sexual health charity Informing Choices NI, said demand for pregnancy counselling has increased by 80 per cent over the past two years.

“However, additional funding from the Department of Health to match the increase in referrals has not been provided. As a result, women have been denied timely access to pregnancy choices counselling,” he said.