Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020
(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)
Read Full debateThe Committee divided: - Ayes: 15 / Noes: 2 - Question accordingly agreed to.
The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Mr Robin Walker)
I beg to move
That the Committee has considered the Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020, No. 503).
I welcome your chairmanship, Sir David, and I thank the House staff for the work they have done to make this Committee Room safe for Members in the current difficult circumstances.
In proposing this debate, I recognise that this issue is a contentious and difficult one, and that there are strong opinions on all sides. I respect the deeply held views that Members will bring to this debate, and I am glad that the decision of the usual channels to allow a free vote on the issue will allow all Members to vote according to their conscience. However, I remind colleagues that in carrying out the instructions of this House of Commons from another vote last year, the Government are doing no more than meeting their legal duty.
We previously made the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020, which came into force on 31 March 2020, to set out the new legal framework for the provision of abortion services in Northern Ireland. Those regulations were also made under the affirmative procedure, and were required to be debated by 17 May 2020 to remain in force as law. However, the unprecedented situation created by covid-19 has impacted on parliamentary processes, and virtual voting systems were not yet fully implemented. We therefore took the decision to remake the regulations and give Parliament an additional 28 days to consider and scrutinise them properly, given the nature of this policy. This approach has ensured that the law on abortion in Northern Ireland continues to apply, with no risk of a gap or legal uncertainty, and that services in Northern Ireland can continue on the same legal basis as they have started operating within the new legal parameters.
Ian Paisley
The Minister has stressed that he is following a legal duty. If that is the case, I would like him to put on the record which treaty obligations he is in breach of if he does not pursue the implementation of a Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women recommendation. I believe that we are in breach of no treaty, and that he is under no legal obligation to do what he is doing.
Mr Walker
The hon. Gentleman mentions treaties, but I did not; I mentioned a legal obligation, under which the House of Commons has placed us through section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019. As he will know, as a result of an urgent question last week, we debated at some length the fact that we were bringing this forward, and I provided answers as to why we were doing so, rather than—as some in his party suggested—repealing section 9. I think this is a perfectly rational approach to delivering on the commitments that the House has placed on us under the 2019 Act.
Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
I am grateful to the Minister, who has behaved with genuine courtesy throughout the whole of this process. Would he comment on whether, in the write-round that precedes these things, our Attorney General expressed any concerns in respect of the legal and constitutional implications of these regulations? I appreciate that the Minister cannot detail any concerns—that would be inappropriate—but were concerns expressed by the Attorney General about the legal and constitutional implications?
Mr Walker
As my right hon. Friend knows very well, the Government never comment on legal advice. However, he is quite right to refer to the fact that there has been a write-round process, and the Attorney General of the United Kingdom has supported that process to allow these regulations to move forward.
This statutory instrument, the Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020, came into force on 14 May and revoked the earlier regulations. These regulations have been made in accordance with the statutory duty that Parliament imposed on the Government last summer through section 9 of the 2019 Act. That duty was to make regulations to provide for lawful access to abortion services in Northern Ireland in a way that implemented the recommendations in paragraphs 85 and 86 of the 2018 United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women report of the inquiry concerning the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, under article 8 of the optional protocol of the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. The CEDAW recommendations mandate access to abortion services at least in the cases of
“(i) Threat to the pregnant woman’s physical or mental health without conditionality of ‘long-term or permanent’ effects;
(ii) Rape and incest; and
(iii) Severe foetal impairment, including FFA, without perpetuating stereotypes towards persons with disabilities and ensuring appropriate and ongoing support, social and financial, for women who decide to carry such pregnancies to term.”
Jim Shannon
The Minister will know that the GB law allowing discriminatory abortion is already under fire. The way things are shaping up here, abortions of those who have Down’s syndrome, for instance, could actually take place. What consideration has the Government given to the GB law allowing discriminatory abortion, given that it is already under fire but this legislation is coming through with the same intention?
Mr Walker
The hon. Gentleman is perhaps referring to litigation that is under way, which I of course cannot comment on. What I can say is that we gave very careful consideration, both in the consultation itself and in the follow-up to it, to all aspects of this legislation. We decided to follow the approach of GB law by not specifying particular conditions, but being clear that the approach to severe foetal impairment has to be for the individual woman, in consultation with medical professionals. We think that is the right approach; it is the approach established elsewhere in the UK, and indeed in many other jurisdictions.
The CEDAW report does not recommend or mandate specifics of how access should be provided. In particular, it is silent on issues such as gestational time limits for legal abortion, which it leaves open to the state to determine. The key requirement is to ensure access to services for women and girls in the circumstances I have set out, and abortions should be delivered as part of sexual and reproductive health services.
We recognise that this is a sensitive and personal issue for many people. We have heard many differing views about abortion in this House and the other place over the past 12 months, including in the debates on the reports under the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019. I extend my thanks to all hon. Members who have engaged with me over recent months in discussions about these regulations, and have contributed views and shared insights from the wider engagement that they have been having with a range of constituents and other stakeholders.
Carla Lockhart (Upper Bann) (DUP)
The Minister refers to the fact that a number of people have contributed to this debate, but does he not accept that the Northern Ireland Assembly—the place where this should be debated and decided upon—was unable to contribute to the debate and articulate its view? It voted on Thursday. Why has this Committee not taken cognisance of that vote?
Mr Walker
I respect the hon. Lady and the position from which she is arguing, but the Northern Ireland Assembly has had many opportunities to take forward these issues and provide a framework that would address the requirements of CEDAW, and it has not taken them. As she refers to the debate, I reiterate what I said in response to the urgent question last week: the Northern Ireland Assembly chose to vote on one aspect of these regulations and said that it did not like it. It did not debate the full details of the regulations themselves, and it did not provide a way forward that is compliant with CEDAW. I am very happy for it to debate these issues and take them forward, but it must do so in a way that is CEDAW compliant. It has every right to do that and reform these regulations, should it choose to do so in a way that is CEDAW compliant.
I appreciate that this is an issue on which views are deeply held, and I respect the fact that people coming at it from either side of the argument are doing so with the best interests of others in mind. I have no doubt that the arguments that we will hear today, across the whole spectrum of opinion on the subject, come from the heart and will be well informed. The starting point for the framework was that, as a result of the repeal of sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, from 22 October 2019 carrying out an abortion is no longer a criminal offence, except for late-term abortion, to which the offence of destroying a child capable of being born alive would still apply.
In relation to complying with the statutory duty on the Government, our overarching policy aims were to ensure that the framework protects and promotes the health and safety of women and girls, provides clarity and certainty for the medical profession, and is responsive and sensitive to the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly being restored from January, where our legal obligation remained to act on this issue.
Towards the end of last year, we publicly consulted on the proposals for the new legislative framework. The consultation gave people and organisations in Northern Ireland an opportunity to provide input and views on how we could best deliver an abortion framework consistent with our statutory duty. We were clear in that consultation that this is not about whether the Government should deliver on our statutory duty, but rather about how we can most effectively deliver a framework as required.
The Government have engaged with a range of stakeholders in Northern Ireland during this process and in recent months, including political parties, medical professionals, women’s groups, abortion service providers, trade unions, civil society organisations, individuals with lived experience and church groups. We listened to feedback expressed in the consultation process and through various engagements, and we have responded accordingly. We have sought to balance the range of views against our statutory duty, and to take pragmatic decisions informed by evidence.
Many stakeholders have welcomed the regulations, including the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. It is our firm view that the regulations provide a new legislative framework that is operationally sound, works best for Northern Ireland and delivers on the Government’s statutory duty.
Sir John Hayes
On the issue of the legality of these regulations, I understand the Minister’s reticence about discussing the legal advice from our Attorney General, but he will know that Northern Ireland’s Attorney General has also commented, and made those comments publicly available. That gentlemen has argued that regulations 7 and 12 are ultra vires and that, in respect of regulation 13, the Secretary of State may have been guilty of misdirection. Those are very serious remarks from a Law Officer. Would that advice not make it almost impossible to receive these regulations in Northern Ireland?
Mr Walker
My right hon. Friend refers to the Attorney General’s comments to the Executive, which, as he says, he has made public.
I am, for my part, very confident that we have the vires under the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 to carry forward the legislation. I have to say to my right hon. Friend, whom I greatly respect, that this issue has been a matter of contention over a long period. He, like me, would much rather that Northern Ireland politicians had been able to address the issue together and take it forward, but that has not proven to be the case. It was in recognition of that that this House told the Government to take action on this issue.
Stephen Farry (North Down) (Alliance)
Further to his correct response to the right hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings in relation to legal advice, does the Minister recognise that the courts in Northern Ireland and, in particular, the UK Supreme Court have already ruled that the outgoing abortion regime in Northern Ireland is incompatible with human rights? In that regard, I pay tribute to the work of Sarah Ewart in championing the need for reform.
Mr Walker
Absolutely, and I recognise that the decisions that this House took to give the Government the locus to act on these issues were partly in the light of those judgments, both in the Belfast High Court and in the Supreme Court. The hon. Gentleman is right to address those issues. I must say, having met with Sarah Ewart and her mother, that I was hugely impressed by the courage that she has displayed in bringing her issues to light and publicly engaging in this, coming from a background that was not necessarily one that people would expect.
Jim Shannon
Does the Minister recognise the depth of feeling among the community across Northern Ireland? He referred earlier to churches and so on, but he will know that some 20,000 people signed a petition in Northern Ireland. In comparison with the rest of the United Kingdom, that would equate to half a million people on the mainland signing a petition. When it comes to looking holistically across the whole of the community, the number of people who are unhappy with the legislation going ahead is very important. There are indications that some 71% of the population would be unhappy with this liberalisation of abortion going ahead in Northern Ireland.
Mr Walker
The hon. Gentleman refers to statistics, and numbers of people. These are contested matters; we hear of different polls giving different results on these issues. What is very clear is that this Parliament mandated the Government to deliver on this issue. We have the vires to do so, and we have sought to do.
Mr Walker
It was the last Parliament, as my right hon. Friend points out. I believe that the majority by which that Parliament, on a free vote, mandated the Government to do this was around two thirds. I think it is very clear that this is the right thing to do, partly because of the issues raised by the hon. Member for North Down.
I know that a number of hon. Members, including the hon. Member for Strangford when he just spoke, have expressed that this has resulted in what they view as a more liberal regime than in Great Britain. I do not believe that that is the case, and we have sought to ensure proper and appropriate implementation of the CEDAW recommendations, in a way that means that the outcomes delivered will be equivalent to those in the rest of the UK, to ensure that women and girls have the same access to services in similar circumstances.
Therefore, many of the provisions in the regulations mirror provisions under the Abortion Act 1967 on such issues as conscientious objection to ensure consistency in the provision of services across the UK. The Government’s response to the consultation, published on gov.uk, sets out further detail on how the Government made their decision on each element of the framework, and the reasons behind each decision.
I will briefly turn to an overview of the key elements of the regulations. They provide for access to abortions without conditionality up to 12 weeks’ gestation. We judge that that provision is proportionate and appropriate in order to implement the CEDAW recommendation of ensuring access in cases of sexual crime, while avoiding building a system that could lead to further trauma for victims of rape or incest, or act as a barrier to access for those victims. A barrier to access would, in the Government’s view, be a breach of the CEDAW requirements.
Without a period of access without conditionality, the duty to report a crime that applies to everyone in Northern Ireland, including medical professionals, could create a perceived barrier to access for victims of sexual crime and lead to women or girls seeking alternative, unsafe options outside the health system, which we want to avoid now that there is lawful access. We know that that was an issue in preventing access to even the very limited scope of abortions that were legally available prior to October 2019.
The regulations also set out three further circumstances in which an abortion is legal: first, up to 24 weeks’ gestation, in cases where the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk or injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or girl greater than the risk of terminating the pregnancy; and, secondly, in cases of severe foetal impairment and fatal foetal abnormalities with no gestational time limit. That is where there is a substantial risk that the condition of the foetus is such that the death of the foetus is likely before, during or shortly after birth; or, if the child were born, it would suffer from such physical or mental impairment as to be seriously disabled. The third set of circumstances are cases where there is a risk to the life of the woman or girl greater than if the pregnancy were terminated or, where necessary, to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or girl, including in cases of immediate necessity—with no gestational time limit.
In such cases, the regulations require that two medical professionals, as defined in the regulations, certify in good faith that the ground has been met. Abortions are also allowed where it is immediately necessary to save the life, or to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health, of the pregnant woman. The CEDAW report is silent on the question of gestational limit in such circumstances. We consider that the above grounds are an appropriate way of delivering on our statutory duty and implementing the recommendations of the report in a way that will work effectively in practice. An intentional contravention of the requirements to certify that an opinion has been reached in good faith that one of the grounds under the regulations has been met to allow the abortion is punishable by a fine of up to £2,500.
The regulations allow for abortions to be provided by a doctor, nurse or midwife. They may be carried out in general practitioners’ premises, clinics provided by a health and social care trust, and health and social care trust hospitals, operating under the overall Northern Ireland health and social care framework. Early medical abortions are carried out by taking two pills. The regulations allow the second pill to be taken at a woman’s home, following the first pill being taken at an approved location. That mirrors the approach used in the rest of the United Kingdom.
The regulations allow the Department of Health in Northern Ireland to approve other places where abortions may take place—a power that mirrors the power for the Secretary of State under the Abortion Act. That could be used, for example, to approve third or private sector provision, or to enable greater use of telemedicine.
The regulations require the medical professional to notify the chief medical officer of the Northern Ireland Department of Health of the abortion, alongside other relevant data specified in the regulations. The Department of Health in Northern Ireland will then be responsible for annual publication of relevant data. To ensure confidentiality and the protection of personal data, the regulations impose restrictions on how the data can be used. Disclosure of information notified to the chief medical officer, other than in accordance with the regulations, is an offence punishable by a fine of up to £2,500.
We recognise the strongly held beliefs about abortion. That is why the regulations make it clear that no one will be required to take part in treatment for abortion to which they have a conscientious objection. The only exception is where that treatment is necessary to save the life, or to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of a pregnant woman.
That protection mirrors precisely the conscientious objection provision in the Abortion Act, is consistent with the interpretation of that provision by the Supreme Court, and does not extend to the ancillary, administrative and managerial tasks that might be associated with that treatment. The Government are satisfied that the current scope of the conscientious objection provision works satisfactorily in the rest of the UK, is human rights compliant, and is therefore appropriate to apply in Northern Ireland to the provision of abortion services under the regulations.
Finally, the regulations impose a criminal sanction on anyone who intentionally terminates or procures the termination of the pregnancy of a woman otherwise than in accordance with the regulations. That is about where someone is acting dishonestly or negligently, and it will not apply where a termination was done in good faith for the purpose only of saving the woman’s life or preventing grave permanent injury to the woman’s physical or mental health. It is not intended that a medical professional should be prosecuted where they form an honest opinion in good faith as to risk, but makes a factual error.
As an additional protection for medical professionals, the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions is required before proceedings can be brought under the regulations. Other criminal laws will continue to apply, including section 25 of the Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 1945, which prohibits the destruction of a child otherwise capable of being born alive. However, the regulations make relevant amendments necessary to ensure that abortions carried out in accordance with the regulations by the relevant medical professionals are not contrary to section 25 of the 1945 Act, and no woman or girl can be prosecuted with respect to ending her own pregnancy.
Ian Paisley
Is it not disingenuous to say that the regulations mirror what happens in GB? In GB, if what the Minister describes were to occur, a person would face imprisonment from up to five years to life. In the Republic of Ireland, that person would face up to 14 years’ imprisonment. In Northern Ireland, the very maximum that anyone would face for breaching this criminal law would be a fine of level 5, which is about £2,500. Is it not the case that the regulations do not mirror legislation, but liberalise that legislation?
Mr Walker
As I said, we set out in our response to the consultation the detail of how each of the decisions in this process was reached. We recognise that the situation ante this regulation in Northern Ireland was that the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 had already removed the criminal sanctions, so we were under an obligation to create a framework, then reimpose criminal sanctions outside of that framework. That is the way in which we have addressed this.
We are clear that this is a situation in which CEDAW requires us to ensure that women and girls cannot be prosecuted for these regulations, and the regulations should not have—as, unfortunately, it was clear from some of the consultation responses, the criminal law previously did have in Northern Ireland—a chilling effect on availability, nor erect any barriers to access.
Mr Walker
I will make a little bit of progress and allow the hon. Lady to come in before the end. Access to abortion services in Northern Ireland is now a matter for the Northern Ireland Department of Health, as well as the Health and Social Care Board and the Health and Social Care Trust, to take forward, as a new health service.
We continue to have full respect for the devolution settlement, recognising that health is a devolved matter, and to that extent have ensured that, where possible and practical, the regulations can be developed over time, in a way that works best for Northern Ireland by Northern Ireland. For example, the approval power for the Northern Ireland Department of Health to approve new locations in which services can be provided will allow it to respond to service needs and development over time, as the services are commissioned and embedded into health and social care settings in Northern Ireland.
Some interim service provision on the ground in Northern Ireland has now commenced, with early medical abortion services being provided as part of the existing sexual and reproductive health services in the Belfast, northern and western trust areas. This is to ensure access on the ground during covid-19, before fuller services have been commissioned by the Health and Social Care Board.
Of course, abortion remains a devolved issue in Northern Ireland going forward. That means that the Assembly is able to legislate further on abortion, subject to the usual Assembly and other procedures, including compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights. The UK Government will continue to ensure that we abide by our domestic and international legal obligations. The Government stand ready to provide whatever support and guidance we can both to the Northern Ireland Minister of Health and the Department of Health, to assist them in progressing work to set up abortion services in line with our new legislative framework.
As set out in our response to the consultation, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has written to the relevant Northern Ireland Ministers to ensure the implementation of all the recommendations under paragraphs 85 and 86 of the CEDAW report, and the Northern Ireland Office will continue to work closely with the Department of Health and other Northern Ireland Departments in continuing to progress this work.
I hope that the Committee will support these regulations. We believe that they will fully deliver on the requirements placed on the Government by section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 and allow us to move forward in a way that protects the safety of women and girls in Northern Ireland, will remove over time the need for travel for women and girls facing extremely difficult circumstances, and provide certainty and a clear framework for medical professionals. I commend these regulations to the Committee.
Mr Walker
We have heard a wide range of strongly held personal views and varied contributions on all aspects of the regulations from members of the Committee.
I thank all members of the Committee for the courteous way in which they have generally expressed themselves. In particular, I thank the hon. Member for Bristol South for her courteous response to the regulations. I will come to some of the specific points that she made as I go through some of the various issues.
The hon. Member asked about education, and the responsibilities that were placed on us in that regard. We have written as a Department to the relevant Northern Ireland Minister, as set out in our consultation response, but recognise that there are further steps to be taken on that front. It is an issue, as with the wider implementation, as raised by my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke. We recognise that our duties do not finish with the regulations and their passage. We will monitor implementation and continue to work closely with the Department of Health in Northern Ireland to ensure that it can be taken forward.
It is understandable that right now the top priority of the Department of Health is, and has been, dealing with the covid-19 pandemic. Despite some positive moves by clinicians to get services up and running and to provide solutions, there is further work to be undertaken. The chief medical officer has been writing to let medical professionals know of changes to the law, but I agree with my right hon. Friend that it is vital that we provide legal certainty. Passing the regulations is a very important first step in doing that.
I would like to address several of the points raised during the debate, but I apologise to hon. Members if I do not have time to address every single one. I am pleased that, as a result of the regulations being in force, some services are operating on the ground in Northern Ireland, already providing local access for women and girls. The Northern Ireland Health Minister updated the Assembly on the numbers to date, and with 129 between 31 March and 22 May, it would seem that the majority of demand is already being met locally in Northern Ireland.
I was pressed by both the hon. Member for Bristol South and my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke on when we can end the requirement to fund travel. We will continue to fund services in England until we are confident that sufficient service provision is on the ground in Northern Ireland for all the cases covered by CEDAW. We have not set a specific deadline for that, but of course we want to work closely with the Department of Health in Northern Ireland to make sure that that is as soon as possible.
The hon. Member for Walthamstow made a passionate speech and spoke, as she has many times before, of the voices that for too long have not been heard in some of the Northern Ireland debate. She asked about our interpretation of mental and physical health grounds on which I want to respond specifically, because it is important. I note that concerns have been raised about how previously in Northern Ireland health grounds have been narrowly interpreted in practice. The approach we have taken on risk to physical and mental health complies with CEDAW’s requirements to ensure access in cases of risk to mental and physical health without conditionality of long-term and permanent effect, mirroring the law in England and Wales. My right hon. Friend the Member for South Holland and The Deepings and the hon. Member for North Antrim accused us of departing from that law in other areas. We are clear that the grounds should be interpreted and applied in the same way across the UK, not in a restrictive way. That does not require a specific mental health diagnosis before abortion is allowed. The explanatory memorandum makes it clear in paragraph 7.11:
“In forming an opinion as to the application of this ground, medical professionals may take into account a woman’s wellbeing, and the woman’s actual or reasonably foreseeable circumstances, including wider social circumstances. The threshold of risk to the physical or mental health of the woman is a matter for the opinion in good faith of each of the registered medical professionals involved. However, medical professionals should interpret the grounds in Northern Ireland consistent with the rest of the UK, for example the risk to mental health is not required to relate to a specific or diagnosed mental health condition and does not require a mental health or psychiatric assessment before the abortion can be permitted.”
I hope that provides some reassurance to colleagues across the House.
I appreciate the concerns raised by my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke and the hon. Members for Bristol South and for North Down, but based on previous concerns in Northern Ireland when medical professionals were operating within a narrow window of what constituted legal abortion, they could be deterred by having a sanctions regime in place. Other Members expressed concern about a potential free-for-all without any sanctions. The CEDAW recommendations do not require unlimited access to abortion services; it is for the Government to set appropriate safeguards on the circumstances for provision of abortion services and determine how those will be enforced. It would be unusual to put specific regulatory requirements in legislation that have to be complied with, including where and how abortions can be provided, without sanctions being applied for breaches of those requirements. The sanctions are therefore in place to protect women and girls against intentional, reckless or persistent disregard for the requirements and conditions imposed by the regulations, so that anyone intentionally breaching the new framework, particularly outside of commissioned abortion services and where acting dishonestly or negligently, can be investigated and prosecuted as appropriate. The explanatory memorandum makes that clear in paragraphs 7.35 to 7.38, where it is noted that
“it is not intended that a medical professional should be prosecuted where a medical professional forms an opinion in good faith as to risk but makes a factual error.”
I hope that provides some assurance on that front.
I note that the hon. Member for North Down and some respondents to the consultation were concerned that we had not gone further on exclusion zones. I recognise that many campaigners are concerned about that. We have had conversations with the Police Service of Northern Ireland and I understand that a range of existing public order offences are likely to be able to be relied on. In this area, as in many others, we felt it right to look at practice across the whole of the UK and not to go beyond the UK framework.
The hon. Member for North Antrim and my right hon. Friend the Member for South Holland and The Deepings raised concerns about unconditional access up to 12 weeks. I set out the reason for that in my opening remarks: so as not to erect barriers that would be inconsistent with the CEDAW issue. However, based on current public data, 86% of the abortions accessed by residents of Northern Ireland in England under the Abortion Act 1967 take place prior to 12 weeks’ gestation and would be covered by that limit. We consider that the right approach to take to ensure that women resident in Northern Ireland have access without conditionality in the vast majority of cases where it is their individual choice to do so. This approach ensures compliance with CEDAW.
I appreciate also the deeply held concerns that have been raised with respect to severe foetal impairment. I respect the passion with which Members across the Committee have spoken on that issue, but I must be clear that in contrast to some of the things that have been said, there is nothing in this regulation that permits abortion for specific conditions. There is no discrimination in this respect. The regulation follows the law in England and Wales and the approach that we have taken to SFI in the rest of the United Kingdom. In that respect, it brings a consistent approach across the UK.
Given the often late diagnosis and timing of follow-up scans and tests, women need to be given time to understand the nature and severity of the conditions that they might be dealing with. It is right that they should be able to make informed decisions based on their own health and wider circumstances and in consultation with doctors. We of course recognise that CEDAW also calls for these proposals to be taken forward,
“without perpetuating stereotypes towards persons with disabilities and ensuring appropriate and ongoing support, social and financial, for women who decide to carry such pregnancies to term.”
Putting in place proper supports and provision of information to support women in making informed decisions is hugely important, but it is an operational issue for the Department of Health in Northern Ireland to take forward as part of commissioning and overseeing abortion services as a new health service, consistent with regulations.
The regulations will improve the situation for women and girls facing some of the hardest choices that anyone could ever have to face and for the medical professionals trying to support them. I appreciate that there are areas on which people on either side of the argument would like us to have gone further, or feel that we have gone too far, but I make no apology that when it comes to precedent we have sought to achieve the same outcomes as the frameworks in place across the rest of the UK. This is the right thing to do to remove the need for travel and to ensure that we have a CEDAW-compliant framework that does not create barriers to access, as well as to ensure legally robust protections for conscience. I therefore commend the regulations to the Committee.
Question put.