Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris commissions abortion services in Northern Ireland

Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris MP has announced that the UK Government will commission abortion services in Northern Ireland to tackle “unacceptable” healthcare provision for women and girls. Abortion legislation in Northern Ireland was liberalised in 2019 following laws passed by Westminster at a time when the power-sharing government at Stormont had collapsed.

The secretary of state said he was under a statutory obligation to ensure that safe abortion services were available.

"It is unfortunate that we have been forced to commission these services, in what should be a matter for the Department of Health to implement,” stated Mr Heaton-Harris. “The government has been left with no other option, as women and girls of Northern Ireland have been without safe and high-quality services, with many having to travel to the rest of the UK to access healthcare to which they are legally entitled. That is unacceptable." The move comes after Amnesty International published a poll which found that fewer than half of women in Northern Ireland were aware that abortion was lawful and only 10% knew how to access services.

Amnesty's Grainne Taggart said today’s announcement "marks a critical step towards ending the denial of abortion healthcare".

“It is essential that the allocation of necessary funds for these services is put in place at the same time as commissioned services are established, so they can run effectively and are accessible – not just in law but in practice.”

Mr Heaton-Harris said he will meet with the chief executives of the health trusts in the coming weeks "to ensure services can be provided".

“Ultimately, it remains the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive to fund abortion services in Northern Ireland," he said.

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