MPs have again overwhelmingly backed radical changes to Northern Ireland’s abortion law which would move it from being the most restrictive law in the UK to being the most liberal, allowing unrestricted abortion up to 28 weeks. Many MPs did not vote at all. It can only be stopped if the Northern Ireland Assembly reconvenes by October 21.

The moves have been severely criticised by the Catholic Bishops of Northern Ireland.

Last week an amendment to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill by Labour MP Stella Creasy received majority support from MPs and passed the Commons before going to the Lords where on Wednesday night peers amended the proposal in several areas.

On Thursday that returned to the Commons where MPs again expressed clear support – by 328 votes to 65 – for fundamental changes to Northern Ireland’s criminal law which would stop any form of abortion being treated as a criminal offence.

However, there was again criticism of the rushed way in which the change is being made due to the fact that it has come about through an amendment to a technical bill about delaying elections in Northern Ireland which is being fast-tracked through the Commons under emergency procedures.

Because the Commons also passed its own amendment today – relating to Brexit – the bill will now return to the House of Lords for that to be considered before coming back to the Commons, probably at the start of next week.

Unlike the House of Lords, which spent the best part of two days debating the changes with vigorous opposition from Baroness Nuala O’Loan, and Lords Robin Eames and David Trimble, the Commons yesterday spent little time discussing abortion.

Due to the government rushing the bill through the Commons, MPs were yesterday given only one hour to discuss the entire bill – which encompasses everything from the Stormont talks to legalising same-sex marriage, moves towards reform of the libel law and a pension for Troubles victims.

Tory MP Fiona Bruce, an opponent of the changes, said that the amendments meant that Northern Ireland would have “the most permissive abortion law in the whole of the British Isles”.

Pro-choice MP Diana Johnson agreed with that characterisation of the new law for Northern Ireland but said that should now be extended to the rest of the UK.

People with Down Syndrome, including their families, have signed an open letter to Theresa May opposing plans to impose a radical abortion regime to Northern Ireland, including for babies genetic abnormalities, right through to 28-weeks gestation.

Currently, in Northern Ireland, disability-selective abortion for genetic abnormalities like Down Syndrome is not allowed. Figures from the Department of Health in the North show that while 52 children with the condition were born in 2016, in the same year only one child from Northern Ireland with Down’s syndrome was aborted in England and Wales.

In the rest of the UK, however, the latest statistics show that 90% of unborn babies diagnosed with Down Syndrome are aborted.

Lord Shinkwin, an advocate for disability equality, has strongly denounced the UK Government’s plans. “Northern Ireland is the safest place in the United Kingdom to be diagnosed with a disability”, he said and added that he message it sends to people who are born with a disability is “you are better off dead”.

The Government’s plans to make abortion widely available has been prevented in at least three maternity hospitals or units because of conscientious objections.

According to a report in TheJournal.ie, five hospitals haven’t been able to implement abortion ‘services’ for what they termed “operational issues”, and four hospitals have had complications in relation to conscientious objection and recruitment.

The Department of Health said that individual staff shall not be obliged to carry out, or to participate in an abortion, but conscientious objection “does not extend to institutions”.

Among the hospitals or units where conscientious objections have hindered the rollout of early-pregnancy abortion services are Letterkenny University Hospital, Sligo University Hospital and Wexford General Hospital.

Various “operational challenges” are preventing the introduction of abortion in South Tipperary General Hospital, the Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise, University Hospital Kerry, Portiuncula University Hospital and St Luke’s General Hospital in Kilkenny.

The number of women seeking post-abortion counselling at a sexual health clinic in Cork more than doubled last year compared with 2017, according to its annual report.

The Sexual Health Centre provided 157 sessions of post-termination counselling last year, compared with 77 in the previous year.

Some of those coming for counselling had abortions up to 20 years ago, said director of services Catherine Kennedy.

“For us there were a number of things happening last year where people really opened up a lot more about crisis pregnancies, terminations, sexual health and their concerns about all these, and to talk about them. There was obviously a lot of coverage around abortion with the referendum, people were telling their stories and talking about difficult decisions and their impact on them.

“Women and couples weren’t coming only about recent terminations, but also about terminations five, 10, 15 or 20 years ago. There was a lot of coverage of fatal foetal abnormalities. It can be a very difficult decision to have a termination in those circumstances and people came for counselling about that.”

Last Year, TDs Lisa Chambers, FF, and Kate O’Connell, FG, were both criticised for saying that abortion was a “makey-uppy” thing.

U.S. leaders called for a worldwide “grassroots” movement to fight religious persecution at a global religious freedom gathering on Tuesday.

The “iron curtain” of religious persecution must “come down now,” U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback stated on Tuesday at the opening of the State Department’s Second Annual Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom. “Let this be the beginning of a global grassroots movement for religious freedom,” he said.

The Ministerial, held in Washington, D.C. from July 15-19, features over 1,000 religious and civil society leaders from around the world, along with over 100 foreign delegations and leaders of non-governmental organizations.

Over 20 survivors of religious persecution are also in attendance at the Ministerial, which will feature discussions of global religious persecution and on forming policies and partnerships to advance and promote religious freedom around the world.

Eighty percent of the world’s population lives in an area with religious restrictions, the State Department estimates. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday emphasized that freedom of religion is a fundamental, and public, right.

“All people must be permitted to practice their faith openly” whether at home, in public, or at a house of worship, Pompeo stated in his remarks opening the Ministerial.

Theresa May is facing a significant backlash from across the community in Northern Ireland against a vote in Westminster to redraft the abortion clause in the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill. This will remove vital legal protections, likely ushering into Northern Ireland one of the most permissive abortion laws in Europe, according to pro-life group Both lives Matter.

Baroness Nuala O’Loan and former Church of Ireland primate Archbishop Robin Eames have called on Mrs May to either scrap the Northern Ireland bill in its present form, not allowing it to complete its remaining stage and become law, or ensure that the clause is only taken forward if the people of Northern Ireland are consulted and a majority of MLAs support the introduction of any change to abortion law.

In an open letter to the British prime minister they said the move to liberalise abortion law without the support of Stormont Assembly members “treats the people of Northern Ireland with contempt”.

Over 15,000 people (as at yesterday) have added their names to the letter, including a number of other prominent leaders from across the community.

Baroness O’Loan said: “I am shocked to see that the Government has dropped their long-standing policy of neutrality on abortion and respect for devolution. In 2016 the Northern Assembly voted by a clear majority against changing the abortion law. One-hundred percent of Northern Ireland MPs who have taken their seats in Westminster voted against the amendment introduced by Stella Creasy. None of the MPs who voted for it represent constituencies in Northern Ireland.”

The final report of a UK Independent Review into persecuted Christians has been published.

Commissioned by the British Foreign Office, it has recommended that the UK government should be prepared to impose sanctions against countries that persecute Christians.

The Government should also adopt a definition of anti-Christian discrimination and persecution, similar to those applied to Islamophobia and antisemitism, the report says. British diplomats and other Foreign Office staff, both in the UK and abroad, should have mandatory training in religious literacy in order to equip them to understand the scale and significance of the issue.

The report, by Philip Mounstephen, the Anglican bishop of Truro, was commissioned by the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to examine the extent and nature of Christian persecution and assess the UK government’s response.

Hunt said he would enact all of the recommendations if he became prime minister and said he agreed with the report’s conclusion that Christians were the most persecuted religious group in the world.

Hunt said the UK must take a firmer stance on the persecution of Christians around the world. “The sense of misguided political correctness that has stopped us standing up for Christians overseas must end,” he said. “At home we all benefit from living in a tolerant, diverse society and we should not be afraid of promoting those values abroad. It is a sad fact that Christians are the most persecuted religious group in modern times. I am determined to show that we are on their side.”

An estimated one-third of the world’s population suffers from religious persecution in some form, with 80% of them being Christians, it is claimed.