Tomorrow (Tuesday) Labour MP Diana Johnson will be bringing forward a Ten Minute Rule Bill which is seeking to introduce the largest shake-up of abortion law since the 1967 Abortion Act.
This Bill would have the effect of introducing radical changes to abortion practice in England and Wales, and would impose abortion on Northern Ireland. If these proposals were successful, we would see one the most extreme abortion regimes in the world introduced right across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Since the result of Ireland’s abortion referendum, the attention of the abortion lobby has been heavily focused north of the border. Building on leftover momentum from the referendum and without the Northern Ireland Assembly in place, the abortion lobby, along with a small group of Westminster MPs, has strategically timed and placed this Bill in order to take advantage of the unstable political situation in the North. There is no respect for the legal and constitutional position in Northern Ireland inherent in this bill. The potential consequences for devolution, not just in Northern Ireland but everywhere, would be staggering.
