Westminster blasted for ‘shameful’ move as it commissions abortion services across NI

The Westminster Government has been slammed for following through on its threats to override the Northern Ireland Executive by increasing abortion services around the country.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris stated that he will commission further abortion services nationwide using powers former NI Secretary Brandon Lewis granted himself earlier this year, which do not require the approval of Stormont.

In March 2020, Westminster politicians imposed a radical abortion law on Northern Ireland, and in July last year demanded the expansion of abortion capacity by 31 March 2022, which did not take place.

‘Worrying’

DUP MP Carla Lockhart called Heaton-Harris’ decision “shameful”, saying: “Northern Ireland does not support abortion, it never has. It still doesn’t.”

Revd Daniel Kane of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) said that because of “Westminster’s imposition of the most destructive liberal abortion legislation in these islands”, over 4,100 unborn children have already been aborted between 31 March 2020 and 26 September 2022.

He stated: “The genuine fears and concerns expressed by PCI about the removal of the legal protection of future generations of Northern Ireland’s unborn children have, unfortunately, come to pass.”

Revd Kane added that Westminster’s powers could also “potentially interfere with matters which stretch beyond the provision of abortion services, in education and other areas, which is clearly worrying”.

RSE

Westminster has also recently indicated its desire to override the Executive on other issues, such as on sex education. In August, Shailesh Vara signalled to Stormont that he would “intervene” if it failed to introduce Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) as a compulsory component to the school curriculum.

He told the Executive it had a ‘responsibility’ to implement RSE recommendations contained in a report by the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The same report was used to justify the Westminster’s imposition of abortion across Northern Ireland.

Currently, the Province’s Department of Education requires all grant-aided schools to develop their own policy on RSE, however a school can provide sex education in keeping with its own ethos.