- The Iona Institute - https://ionainstitute.ie -

Northern Ireland ‘not obliged’ to introduce liberal abortion law

The Stormont Assembly is not required to introduce the liberal abortion law the House of Commons voted in favour of last year with the intention of overriding Northern Ireland’s current restrictive regime.

The Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Brandon Lewis, has said the region must introduce the law, but the Society for the Protection for Unborn Children (SPUC) is legally challenging the law before the High Court. The case began yesterday [1].

Acting for SPUC, Northern Ireland’s former attorney general John Larkin QC told the High Court today that there is an “absence of any duty on any person to comply with the directions”.