In a letter to Members of the Legislative Assembly, the Bishops reiterated the moral claim of the unborn to life and said the direct and deliberate intention to end the life of an unborn baby was wrong.

While they recognise that the legislation passed into law by the Westminster Parliament stands now to be implemented, nonetheless they said, “we are morally obliged, wherever possible, to do all we can to save the lives of unborn children, which could be lost through abortion, and to protect mothers from the pressures they might experience at the time of an unplanned pregnancy”.

In particular, where the current regulations go beyond the requirements of the Northern Ireland Act 2019, they urged the formulation of revised Regulations to “reflect more fully the will of a significant majority of the people in this jurisdiction to protect the lives of  mothers and their unborn children”.

“Indeed, as the NIO has noted, this commitment to protect life was expressed by 79% of people, who responded to the consultation exercise conducted by the UK Government last December,” they add.