Press release

Progress on Northern Ireland Abortion Regulations

UK Government takes further steps to deliver on its legal obligations and uphold the rights of women and girls in Northern Ireland.

  • UK Government takes further steps to deliver on its legal obligations and uphold the rights of women and girls in Northern Ireland.

  • Secretary of State, Brandon Lewis, sets out legal obligations to act now to ensure abortion services can be delivered in a sustainable way in the long term.

  • Northern Ireland Executive pressed to urgently commission abortion services, consistent with the conditions set out in the 2020 Regulations that provided a new legal framework for access to abortion in NI.

Today, the UK Government has taken a further step to ensure women and girls have access to high-quality service provision for abortion and post-abortion care locally in Northern Ireland.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis, has laid before Parliament the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021 to ensure that abortion can be delivered in a sustainable way, and become embedded into the health and social care system in Northern Ireland in the long term.

In a written ministerial statement to Parliament, the Secretary of State expressed his disappointment that the Department of Health and Northern Ireland Executive have failed to commission full abortion services, following the change to the law in March 2020.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis said:

I have taken forward these regulations today because women and girls in Northern Ireland are still being denied the right to access high-quality abortion and post-abortion care locally.

The devolution settlement does not absolve us of our responsibility to uphold the rights of women and girls, particularly given the nature of the legal duties placed upon me in this context.

My strong preference remains for the Northern Ireland Department of Health and the Northern Ireland Executive to take responsibility for commissioning these services and it is a matter of regret that they haven’t yet done so and I have had to take these steps to deliver on our shared moral and legal obligations.

The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021 laid in Parliament today gives the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland the power to direct relevant Northern Ireland Ministers, departments and relevant health bodies to commission abortion services, consistent with the conditions set out in the 2020 Regulations.

While Parliament considers the Regulations, the UK Government will continue to engage with the Minister of Health and the Executive to try and find a way forward over the coming weeks before any direction is issued.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis added:

I put on record my thanks to the medical professionals who have ensured that women and girls have had some local access to abortion services in Northern Ireland to date, and the organisations that have supported this work, including Informing Choices Northern Ireland, particularly in the current circumstances and wider strains on the health system.

Published 23 March 2021