Abortion: NI regulations pass final Westminster vote

Abortion regulations which came into effect in Northern Ireland in March have passed their final legislative hurdle in Westminster.

The laws were drafted in 2019 before the restoration of devolution at Stormont.

They allow for terminations in the first 12 weeks of a pregnancy and in some other limited circumstances.

MPs supported the change retrospectively by 253 votes to 177.

The regulations came into force on 31 March 2020 but needed to be signed off in Parliament.

Northern Ireland's abortion laws were changed by MPs last year at a time when devolution in NI had collapsed.

Earlier in June, the NI assembly passed a motion, brought by the DUP, to register opposition to the new regulations.

The vote had no effect on the laws but the DUP said it would send a message to Westminster that the regulations are not supported by Stormont.

Before the laws were in place, many women and girls travelled to England to access abortion services.

The vote on Wednesday was welcomed by Humanists UK, which said "Northern Ireland has gone from having one of the worst abortion laws in Europe to one of the best".

However, the charity CARE said the regulations "will harm, not help, women and babies".

How did we get here?

Last July, MPs voted to decriminalise abortion in Northern Ireland and create new laws.

Stormont was not functioning due to a row between the main power-sharing parties.

Prior to that House of Commons' vote, abortion was only allowed in very specific circumstances in Northern Ireland.

It then fell to the Northern Ireland Office to come up with a framework to oversee the provision for abortion services.

In March, the regulations were made public for the first time and set out when and where abortions could take place, as well as who could carry them out.

The following month, Northern Ireland's Department of Health instructed health trusts that abortions could now be carried out lawfully, in line with the regulations.

However, services are being provided on an interim basis as full abortion provision has not yet been commissioned.

Health Minister Robin Swann said it was a cross-cutting matter that needed to be approved by the whole executive.