A Bill to ban abortions for non-fatal disabilities is unlikely to be made into law after preliminary votes were lost in the Northern Ireland Assembly yesterday.

A group of MLAs opposed to the proposed change tabled two wrecking amendments to the Bill which were passed by 45 to 43. This means that the Bill will be unlikely to proceed any further at the Assembly.

The loss follows the Severe Fetal Impairment Abortion (Amendment) Bill passing Committee Stage at the Northern Ireland Assembly, after 99% of the 9,125 submissions to a Northern Ireland Committee for Health consultation on the Bill supported the proposed law change.

Currently, abortion is legal under the Northern Ireland regulations right up to birth, based solely on a primary diagnosis of disabilities such as Down’s syndrome, cleft palate, cleft lip or club foot, although the law is not in full operation yet.

Lynn Murray, spokesperson for Don’t Screen Us Out and mother of Rachel who has Down’s syndrome, said: “As a mother of a daughter with Down’s syndrome, it is devastating to see that this important piece of legislation is unlikely to proceed further at Stormont.