Abortion in NI: Health officials told to set up services

Stormont's Department of Health must start setting up a fully-funded abortion service for Northern Ireland "within days to weeks", Brandon Lewis has said.

The Northern Ireland secretary has taken new powers to remove the need for the executive to approve plans first.

Abortion is a devolved matter but commissioning a service has been held up due to political deadlock.

But Mr Lewis said his latest step means that "barrier" has now been removed.

The UK government had indicated it would act after the assembly election, if an executive was not restored by then.

Now Mr Lewis has done that, saying he had a "legal and moral duty" to intervene due to the lack of progress.

He gave details of the plan to Parliament on Thursday in a written ministerial statement.

"The Department of Health has said the main thing that has held them up is not being able to get this through the executive - we've taken that away, they can now crack on and deliver it," he told BBC News NI.

"I think this has taken far too long already, it's a complicated legal area... we will allow the department a little bit of time to deliver on this."

The secretary of state declined to give a firm deadline but said the Department of Health needed to move quickly, adding: "I am talking days to weeks."

If that does not happen, Mr Lewis has also taken other powers that will allow the government to then set up the services itself.

Access to abortion has been available in Northern Ireland since April 2020 after new laws came into force, but it is largely limited to early medical terminations up to 10 weeks of pregnancy.

Those seeking abortion services not yet provided by NI Health Trusts can access services in Great Britain through arrangements that are funded by the Department of Health.

Last year, the NI Secretary ordered the Department of Health to get approval from the executive to establish services by no later than March 2022.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is anti-abortion and vowed to block the proposals.

The party also withdrew Paul Givan as first minister in February, leading to the collapse of the power-sharing executive which he jointly chaired.

The Department of Health said Robin Swann - who remains in place as caretaker health minister - was unable to bring draft commissioning proposals forward without a functioning executive.

The health minister said the new regulations would be given "careful consideration" by the department.

Mr Swann said: "I will be seeking further legal advice, including with regard to a Northern Ireland minister of health's legal responsibilities under the ministerial code".

Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O'Neill welcomed the intervention by Mr Lewis, saying abortion services "must be provided now".

"Finally women will receive the modern compassionate health care they are entitled to. The commissioning of abortion services has been blocked to this point," she wrote in a tweet

"No more delays. It must be provided now."

DUP MP for Upper Bann Carla Lockhart said devolution should be respected.

"This should be for the people of Northern Ireland to decide what services they want, if any," she told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme.

"It is for our department and our executive to do just that".

Ms Lockhart said the UK government should "spend time on other issues", like making changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol.

"It is absolutely vitally important that the UK government step back from this roughshod approach, take action on the issues that they need to take action on and then let the executive decide on this devolved issue".

The DUP has refused to return to Stormont since the assembly election on May 5.

It blocked the election of a Speaker to a new assembly, meaning it cannot function, until its concerns about post-Brexit trading arrangements are resolved.

Mr Lewis has rejected suggestions that his actions could be interpreted as a step by Westminster towards reintroducing direct rule.

"I've been very clear about my first choice, to see this done the way it should be done at Stormont," he said.

"It's a balance for us as this is a devolved area but we will strain every sinew to work with the Department of Health to get this done."

It is understood it could cost about £5m per year to run a permanent, fully-funded abortion service for Northern Ireland.

Mr Lewis insisted it was "within the budget the Department of Health has got", without further funding from Westminster.

"£5m is a lot of money - but it's not a lot of money when you look at the several hundreds of millions of pounds that hasn't been spent, that the executive has already had," he added.

"So they've definitely got the money for this, but they have to have the determination to deliver for women in Northern Ireland."

The Department of Health said it would consider the implications of Mr Lewis's latest intervention.

It also said limited abortion services for up to 10 weeks of pregnancy were already available to all women in Northern Ireland.