Abortion regulations to be debated in Stormont

DUP East Belfast MLA Joanne Bunting, alongside colleagues, has tabled a motion in the Northern Ireland Assembly tomorrow (Tuesday, June 2) welcoming the intervention by disability campaigner Heidi Crowter and rejecting the Westminster abortion regulations which extend to all non-fatal disabilities including Down's syndrome, cleft palate and clubfoot.

Ms. Bunting commented: "Heidi has written to all MLAs outlining how offensive the abortion regulations, imposed by Westminster, are to people with disabilities. Heidi was born with Down’s syndrome. These abortion regulations discriminate against people with disabilities."

She continued: "It is not right that an abortion can be legal up to full term just because the baby has Down’s syndrome. That sends an awful message to every child with Down’s in Northern Ireland. We want to value every life and ensure there is the support within our health and social care for women in crisis pregnancies."

"These regulations are extreme. The most extreme in the British Isles. They should not have been rushed through Westminster but should have been a matter for the devolved administration,” Ms. Bunting stated.

The DUP motion stated: "That this Assembly welcomes the important intervention of disability campaigner Heidi Crowter and rejects the imposition of abortion legislation which extends to all non-fatal disabilities, including Down's syndrome."

Proposing an amendment to the DUP motion, Sinn Fein MLAs requested that all after the word ‘rejects’ be replaced with "the specific legislative provision in the abortion legislation which goes beyond fatal foetal abnormalities to include non-fatal disabilities, including Down's syndrome".

The new legal framework around abortions took effect from March 31 following the decision of MPs to legislate for the liberalisation of Northern Ireland’s strict abortion laws in the absence of the Stormont Assembly.