The British government has warned politicians in Northern Ireland to roll out abortion services there before London is forced to step in. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said he hoped progress could be made on the long-delayed central commissioning of services without him having to use new powers to direct the devolved administration to act on the issue. Mr Lewis laid regulations at Westminster yesterday that would give him the ability to compel the region’s health department to commission the services. The British government’s intervention on delayed abortion services came ahead of a legal challenge by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission over the ongoing failure to make terminations widely available in the region. Stormont Health Minister Robin Swann insists he cannot commission services without the approval of the wider five-party coalition Executive.

Source: Irish Independent March 24, 2021 02:31 UTC