A legal challenge against the Northern Ireland Secretary of State and Stormont over the failure to commission and fund abortion services in Northern Ireland will start on Wednesday. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is taking Brandon Lewis, as well as the Northern Ireland Executive and the Department of Health to the High Court for a case which is expected to be heard over two days. Abortion laws in Northern Ireland were liberalised in 2019 following legislation passed by Westminster at a time when the power-sharing government collapsed. Last month the House of Commons formally approved regulations which enable Mr Lewis to take action on rolling out abortion services in Northern Ireland. Chief commissioner of the commission Les Allamby said the legal action is to ensure access to abortion services.

Source: The Irish Times May 25, 2021 23:01 UTC