By the end of the year Northern Irish women will have the right to access free abortion services in England, and a central telephone booking system will be set up for women to arrange their abortion appointment. Furthermore, those on incomes of less than £15,276 or receiving income support will now also get their travel and accommodation paid. The plans were detailed by Justine Greening, the UK equalities minister, who had said in June that it was an injustice that women from Northern Ireland had to pay for abortions in England when their Anglo, Scottish and Welsh counterparts had them free via the NHS. The move was welcomed by Labour MP Stella Creasy who said women in Northern Ireland were being denied a basic human right and the new scheme was a step forward. “Today we also pledge to keep standing with them until they have equal access to abortion services in Northern Ireland itself,” she said. “Our sisters need to have their human rights to be upheld and we won’t give up until they have so.”

On Tuesday, the UK’s supreme court will hear a case to overturn the restrictions on abortions in Northern Ireland on the grounds that the laws breach human rights.