Mr Justice Colton rejected a challenge by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) to Brandon Lewis’ powers to impose a deadline on Stormont for putting in place a centralised system.

The group claimed that only elected representatives in Northern Ireland should be able to decide on the issue, but the judge disagreed.

“Not only was the secretary of state empowered to make regulations, but he was obliged to do so and remains obliged to do so where it appears to him further changes in the law of Northern Ireland are necessary or appropriate for complying with his duties,” he said. “Only parliament can change this.”

MPs in Westminster passed legislation in 2019 to impose an even more liberal abortion regime on Northern Ireland than exists in England and Wales. This was done while power-sharing at Stormont was going through a long hiatus. But a model for operating a system across Northern Ireland is yet to be put in place.