Members of the House of Lords are introducing amendments to a Bill to prevent it from forcing abortion on Northern Ireland.
As the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill is being fast-tracked through its final stages in the House of Lords on Monday and Wednesday next week (15/07, and 17/07), some members of the House of Lords are calling for measures to ensure the Bill is not hijacked to force abortion on demand on Northern Ireland.
These measures include the removal of the abortion amendment which intends to force abortion on demand on Northern Ireland and which should have been considered to be ‘out of scope’ of the Bill.
Baroness O’Loan has also added another amendment, designed to respect the devolution settlement with Northern Ireland by requiring a majority of Members of the Legislative Assembly of Northern Ireland (MLAs) to approve any legislation before it is laid before Parliament.
Abortion remains a devolved issue in Northern Ireland, which means that the Assembly in Northern Ireland has the authority to make its own abortion law independent of the Government in Westminster.
Those members of the House of Lords bringing in these amendments are attempting to safeguard the sovereignty of Northern Ireland in making its own abortion law.
Right To Life UK has set up a function to enable the public to encourage members of the House of Lords to speak in the debates and to reject the pro-abortion amendment.
Clare McCarthy from Right To Life UK said
“It’s really important that as many people as possible encourage the members of the House of Lords to reject these abortion amendments.”
“From a pro-life perspective, the House of Lords has an opportunity to save lives in Northern Ireland. But even if someone is not pro-life the indifference on display in the House of Commons to the norms of parliamentary procedure should be a concern for all. So wherever you stand on this issue, please consider contacting the Lords urging them to try to prevent abortion being forced on Northern Ireland.”
