Abortion in Northern Ireland

Jeffrey M Donaldson Excerpts

Thursday 25th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. I give her my assurance that we will continue to work with the Department of Health to ensure that it commissions these services as quickly as possible. Obviously, the principle of these regulations, which are subject to the affirmative procedure here in the House, means that we will have the power to direct should we need to do so. I hope that, in the next few weeks, while Parliament debates and discusses this issue, the Department of Health, which we stand ready to support and work with, is able to commission these services locally, so that, as she outlined, women and girls in Northern Ireland can get good, appropriate healthcare, in the way that anyone across the United Kingdom can, locally in Northern Ireland. That is what should happen, and I hope that it will, but we must make sure it does.

[Sir Jeffrey M. Donaldson (Lagan Valley) (DUP) [V]]

We of course want women in Northern Ireland to have access to the best healthcare, but we also believe passionately in protecting the life of the unborn child in Northern Ireland. That view is shared right across our society and is the view of a majority in the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Government seek not only to impose abortion regulations on Northern Ireland but to direct the Northern Ireland Executive to implement regulations that they never signed up to. Surely it should be left to local Ministers to decide what services to commission and not for Westminster to impose its view, in breach of the devolution settlement.

[Brandon Lewis]

As I said earlier, I absolutely recognise the sensitivity and the strength of feeling of people across the House, in some cases, and as the right hon. Gentleman outlines, in Northern Ireland. First of all, this is about ensuring that we follow through on the legal obligations that Parliament put on me. It is also only right that women and girls in Northern Ireland are able to make those individual, informed decisions, with the right medical support and advice provided locally, based on their own health and wider circumstances, in the way that women and girls living elsewhere in the United Kingdom can. I absolutely fervently hope that the Department of Health in Northern Ireland and the Minister for Health in Northern Ireland will take this forward and deal with it locally, so that Parliament does not need to take further action.