Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to ensure the swift and comprehensive commissioning of abortion services in Northern Ireland by the Northern Ireland Department of Health; and if he will make a statement.

Following the Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 that the Government made having come into force in March 2020, we have been working to deliver, through the Northern Ireland Department of Health (DoH), the full commissioning of abortion services, in line with the Regulations we made.

Some service provision has commenced on the ground in Northern Ireland through existing sexual and reproductive health clinics across most Health and Social Care Trusts. I and my officials are in regular contact with DoH in order to understand progress towards the full commissioning of services as soon as possible so that women and girls in Northern Ireland have access to high-quality abortion care in a range of circumstances, equivalent to the rest of the UK.