The House of Commons voted Wednesday by a 2 to 1 majority to confirm the extreme abortion regulations recently imposed on Northern Ireland.

The regulations stem from legislation passed by Westminster last July.

The House voted 253 to 136 to confirm them, but there were 261 abstentions.

Carla Lockhart of the Upper Bann constituency said Wednesday was a dark day for Northern Ireland.

She lamented that Westminster had imposed an extreme abortion law on the people of the North in what should have been a devolved matter.

She thanked the 136 parliamentarians who voted for life and added that the unborn babies deserve better.

Jim Shannon, MP for Strangford, called a point of order and said it was his understanding that many abstained because they felt the Northern Ireland Assembly should have been the body that looked at this. “If we add the Noes, who voted against the abortion legislation in this House, and the abstentions, it comes to a figure of 397 out of 650. My point of order is: has the House expressed its true wishes in relation to this legislation?”