Dramatic increase in NI abortions

Dramatic increase in NI abortions

The numbers of women from the North choosing to terminate their pregnancies has dramatically increased since the procedure was made legal last year.

As of June 11, the Department of Health had received 1,624 notifications of abortions, despite the lack of a full and formal commissioning of the procedure in the region.

A further 371 women travelled to Britain in the 12 months ending March 2021. That is a decrease from 1,014 who travelled over the previous year.

In total, 1,994 women from Northern Ireland have chosen to end their pregnancies since the introduction of the legislation, both in the North and in Britain.

Abortion was imposed on the North by the Westminster parliament in 2019 over the heads of locally-elected representatives.

Britain’s Secretary of State Brandon Lewis has warned the Executive that if it does not move swiftly to a further roll-out of abortion, the government in London will do so.