Baroness Northover
Main Page: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020
Baroness Northover Excerpts
Baroness Northover (LD) [V]
My Lords, in 2018, the Supreme Court described the law on abortion in Northern Ireland as “untenable”, “disproportionate” and incompatible with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. With Stormont not sitting, two-thirds of Northern Irish people supported Westminster reforming their abortion law, which we duly did. Abortion is now legal in Northern Ireland, as it is in the rest of the UK. The regulations establish a framework of provision. Currently, there are no routine services beyond 10 weeks of pregnancy, and women are still forced to travel to England via the Government Equalities Office scheme. During lockdown, few have been able to travel, with resultant distress. Without these provisions, abortion care services may stop, and women may turn to unregulated services, which no one could want. Therefore, I urge noble Lords to support the regulations.