{"id":244173,"date":"2021-05-01T09:41:23","date_gmt":"2021-05-01T14:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=244173"},"modified":"2023-11-14T20:16:35","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T02:16:35","slug":"uk-parliament-abortion-northern-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-parliament-abortion-northern-ireland\/","title":{"rendered":"‘A huge disappointment’: UK Parliament opens door to expanding abortion in Northern Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

(Right to Life UK<\/a>)\u00a0This afternoon [April 28, 2021] the House of Lords has approved the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021<\/a>. This came after yesterday evening\u2019s House of Commons debate in which MPs voted by 431 to 89<\/a> to approve new regulations that will give the Northern Ireland secretary sweeping new powers to impose expanded abortion access on Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

The new powers<\/a> will enable the Northern Ireland Secretary to force Stormont to expand abortion access across Northern Ireland through the commissioning of abortion services. This includes powers to direct the First Minister, deputy First Minister, a Northern Ireland Minister, a Northern Ireland department, the Regional Health and Social Care Board, and the Regional Agency for Public Health and Social Well-being.<\/p>\n

Undermining devolution<\/strong><\/p>\n

Three amendments to the motion were also voted on during the debate.<\/p>\n

The first amendment<\/a>, moved by Baroness O\u2019Loan, proposed a rejection of the Regulations on the basis that the Northern Ireland Assembly is now sitting and the matter is devolved to that legislature. The amendment outined that enacting the new regulation would undermine the devolution settlement in respect of education as well as abortion policy. It also highlighted the lack of \u201cpublic consultation on the Regulations\u201d given that they were laid shortly before Parliament\u2019s Easter recess, which prevented the House from considering them before they took effect. The amendment was voted down by 418 to 93.<\/p>\n

Lord Morrow\u2019s amendment<\/a> posited that the Bill, if passed, would place the \u201cunion in jeopardy\u201d, and would not reflect the wishes of Northern Ireland, given that all the Members of Parliament representing seats in Northern Ireland who had taken their seats at Westminster had voted against it in 2019, and that the Government ought to repeal section 9 accordingly. During his speech he said<\/a> \u201cNorthern Ireland values the life of the mother and the life of the unborn. This may not matter to other devolved countries in Great Britain but it matters to Northern Ireland\u201d.\u00a0 The amendment was voted down by 401 to 63.<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Pro-abortion group calls for buffer zones around Northern Ireland abortion facilities<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The power to discriminate\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In his speech, Lord Shinkwin said<\/a> \u201cI am a severely disabled parliamentarian who believes I have as much right to live as anyone else\u2026 the regulations challenge that right.\u201d His amendment<\/a> recommended that the House decline to approve the regulations on the basis that they gave the state the power to \u201cdiscriminat[e] in Northern Ireland by denying unborn human beings with disabilities the same protections afforded non-disabled human beings between 24 weeks\u2019 gestation and full-term\u201d.<\/p>\n

He continued \u201cbecause such commissioning would implicate the Secretary of State, and by extension Her Majesty\u2019s Government, in the perpetuation of negative stereotypes towards people with disabilities, as it would provide that while unborn non-disabled human beings from 24 weeks\u2019 gestation are worthy of protection from termination, those who might be born with disabilities are not\u201d. The amendment was voted down by 409 to 70.<\/p>\n

\u201cA huge disappointment\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Right To Life UK spokesperson, Catherine Robinson said: \u201cToday\u2019s approval of these regulations in the House of Lords is not just a blow to the people of Northern Ireland and to the majority of MLAs, who voted against the extreme abortion regime at the Northern Ireland Assembly, but is also a huge disappointment for both pro-life campaigners and people with disabilities across the UK. If these new powers are enacted by the Northern Ireland Secretary, the government risks directly violating the devolution settlement\u201d.<\/p>\n

What happens next?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Following today\u2019s vote in the House of Lords, the Northern Ireland Secretary, Brandon Lewis, will now decide whether or not<\/a> to proceed with using his new powers to impose expanded abortion access on Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: This article was published at Right to Life UK<\/a> and is reprinted here with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Right to Life UK)\u00a0This afternoon [April 28, 2021] the House of Lords has approved the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021. This came after yesterday evening\u2019s House of Commons debate in which MPs voted by 431 to 89 to approve new regulations that will give the Northern Ireland secretary sweeping new powers to impose expanded abortion […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":669,"featured_media":244174,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[7077,5,11],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n'A huge disappointment': UK Parliament opens door to expanding abortion in Northern Ireland<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UK's Parliament has approved regulations to give the Northern Ireland secretary sweeping new powers to impose expanded abortion access on Northern Ireland.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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