Abortion in Northern Ireland

Gavin Robinson Excerpts

Thursday 25th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We are not seeking to reopen the debate on the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020, as they were approved by a significant majority of the House. They delivered a framework that strikes a balance between delivering CEDAW compliance, ensuring the health and safety of women and girls, and giving clarity and certainty to healthcare professionals. I want to put on record my thanks to the medical professionals in Northern Ireland who have been working to deliver and support the rights of women and girls in this regard so far, but it is crucial that the Department of Health in Northern Ireland takes responsibility for delivering these services in line with the regulations.

[Gavin Robinson (Belfast East) (DUP) [V]]

Madam Deputy Speaker, may I pass on my appreciation to Mr Speaker for allowing this urgent question? In my view, the Secretary of State should have been in the House on Tuesday and he should have brought forward a ministerial statement.

I am pleased with the Secretary of State’s comments in response to the last question, because throughout the course of this urgent question to suggest that this is about applying the law, and offering appropriate and quality healthcare, dismisses entirely the fact that our healthcare professionals are applying the law. The chief medical officer was incredibly clear about that this morning; he has taken it upon himself to advise healthcare professionals of their obligations, and the services are being provided. That has been lost in the course of this urgent question. Can I ask the Secretary of State to be incredibly clear with the House—at any point, even though services are being provided today, has the Health Minister in Northern Ireland suggested that he will not commission those services?

[Brandon Lewis]

A few points arise from what the hon. Gentleman has just outlined. First, the action we have taken this week was outlined on the Floor of the House during oral questions. We laid a statement on Tuesday. This action is being taken under the affirmative procedure, so it will be a matter for debate and can be properly discussed in this House. It is about our legal obligations as per 2019 to ensure that the services are properly provided.

We are now, as an hon. Friend outlined earlier, some 14 months on from the re-establishment of the Executive and the Department of Health is not at this stage providing the full range of services, although the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that, as I outlined in my opening remarks on this urgent question, some 1,100 individuals—women and girls—have been given services over the last period. I thank the health professionals for doing that, but there are still far too many individuals who are having to travel to mainland Great Britain to get the full range of medical support and services—services that are not available in Northern Ireland which are available elsewhere in the UK. We are under a legal obligation to ensure that that ability to access healthcare for women and girls in Northern Ireland is similar to that across the rest of the United Kingdom.