Abortion: 161 women from NI travelled to England and Wales for services in 2021

It is estimated more than 3,000 abortions have taken place in NI since March 2020 when new laws took effect

Some 161 women from Northern Ireland travelled to England and Wales to have abortions last year, government figures show.

The Department of Health in England described it as a "significant decrease" from 371 women in 2020.

It said the drop was also partially explained by travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The figures have also fallen substantially from 2019 when more than 1,000 travelled to GB for abortions.

Since then, Northern Ireland's abortion laws have changed to allow terminations to be carried out in a number of circumstances.

The Department of Health at Stormont estimates that more than 3,000 abortions have taken place in Northern Ireland since March 2020, when the new laws took effect.

In June 2017, the UK government announced women from Northern Ireland would be able to get free abortions on the NHS in England.

The latest figures for England and Wales, released on Tuesday, show Northern Ireland women represented 26% of non-residents who travelled to the two countries for abortions in 2021.

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Women from the Republic of Ireland made up almost 34% of the total, with 206 travelling to Great Britain for a termination in 2021.

Abortion laws changed in the Republic of Ireland in late 2018 following a referendum earlier the same year.

Northern Ireland remains without a permanent abortion service due to political deadlock at Stormont.

At present health trusts can only permit terminations in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, meaning some women seeking abortion access beyond that gestation have had to travel to Great Britain.

Last week, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said he now expects to use new powers to commission fully-funded abortion services in Northern Ireland.

Mr Lewis had already directed the Department of Health to take it forward.

There is no date yet as to when the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) expects to have the service in place by.

On Tuesday the House of Lords approved the regulations giving Mr Lewis powers to set up a fully funded abortion service for Northern Ireland.

A bid by Baroness Nuala O'Loan, NI's former police ombudsman, to block the legislation was defeated by 181 votes to 28.