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Northern Ireland: self-proclaimed pro-life politicians fail to vote through bill to protect disabled babies from abortion

A Bill to stop abortion up to birth for disabilities like Down’s syndrome, cleft lip and club foot has failed to pass after self-proclaimed “pro-life” politicians and parties fail to vote it through.

The Severe Fetal Impairment Abortion (Amendment) Bill, introduced into the Northern Ireland Assembly in February this year, proposed removing the current grounds in the abortion regulations that were imposed on Northern Ireland by the British Government in 2020, which allow abortion for babies with disabilities including Down’s syndrome, cleft lip and club foot.

However, after Assembly members voted by a narrow margin against the two clauses making up the Bill, it has effectively been defeated. It will now be referred back to the Assembly Speaker and it is not expected that the Bill will progress any further.

The two clauses in the Amendment that would have made abortion up to birth for disabilities like Down’s syndrome illegal were rejected in two separate votes, one for each clause. In both cases, the pro-life clause was defeated by 45 votes to 43.

Self-proclaimed “pro-life” politicians fail to vote for life

A number of politicians who either belonged to a “pro-life” party or called themselves “pro-life” either voted against the pro-life clause or abstained from the vote entirely.

Foremost among them is Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) MLA and Health Minister, Robin Swann, who is a self-proclaimed “pro-life” politician. As recently as 2018, he said: “I am pro-life and I am on record as such”.

The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) describes itself as “a pro-life party” but four of its MLAs (Cara Hunter, Pat Catney, Sinead McLaughlin, and Matthew O’Toole) voted against the pro-life clause preventing it from progressing to its next stage.

Additionally, their party leadership is strongly pro-abortion, with their two MPs, Colum Eastwood and Claire Hanna, being known for their party-contrary stances. In 2019, the party walked out of Stormont, thereby sabotaging a bill that would have prevented abortion from being imposed on Northern Ireland.

Sinn Féin MLA Michelle O’Neill stated in the debate on Clause 1 that “Sinn Féin’s policy is not in favour of access to abortion in cases where a non-fatal fetal abnormality has been diagnosed. That is also excluded by legislation in the South”.

Despite her clear statement that Sinn Féin does not support abortion in cases of Down’s syndrome, cleft lip, club foot, and other non-fatal disabilities, all sitting Sinn Féin MLAs voted against the Bill in a clear departure from their own party’s policy. While this was a departure from their position, it follows a directional trend towards being an absolutely pro-abortion party, which in the past has included campaigning to introduce abortion to the Republic of Ireland.

Members of the public in Northern Ireland can view how their local MLAs voted on the Where Do They Stand platform.

Right To Life UK spokesperson, Catherine Robinson, said: “If these self-proclaimed pro-life MLAs and parties had voted for the Bill, it would have not failed. This Bill is an extremely modest Bill seeking only to protect disabled babies from lethal discrimination up to birth. The abstention of the Minister for Health is particularly shameful, as he is on record proclaiming himself to be ‘pro-life’”.

“The SDLP has shown that it calling itself a pro-life party is a cynical ploy to earn votes. This is the latest dramatic example of its MLAs failing to live up to the party’s principle. A third of its MLAs voted to reject this pro-life amendment. It is hard to see how they can call themselves a pro-life party”.

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Only hours left of the appeal to stop three major anti-life threats.

Only hours left of the appeal to stop three major anti-life threats.

Dear reader,

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of people like you across the UK, the McArthur assisted suicide Bill in Scotland was defeated in March by 69 votes to 57.

Then, in April, the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill fell in the House of Lords.

Many commentators thought both Bills would become law.

If that had happened, governments in England, Scotland and Wales would now be preparing to roll out assisted suicide services.

Over the coming decades, this would have led to the deaths of many thousands of vulnerable people.

But that is not what happened.

Because supporters like you acted, those Bills were stopped.

Because of you, many vulnerable lives have been saved.

These were two very significant victories. But sadly, they are not the last battles we face this year.

The new Parliamentary session began on Wednesday. We now face three major threats.

  1. Attempts to bring back the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill and bypass the House of Lords

    The assisted suicide lobby, led by Dignity in Dying, a multi-million-pound pressure group, has made it clear that it is going to attempt to bring back the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill in the next parliamentary session.

    It then plans to use the Parliament Acts to bypass the House of Lords and force the Bill into law.

  2. Labour Government plans for a major expansion of abortion provision, including financial incentives for ‘lunch-hour’ abortions

    Under these plans, the Government would financially incentivise major abortion providers, BPAS and MSI Reproductive Choices, to provide ‘lunch-hour’ or ‘same-day’ abortions.

    ‘Lunch-hour’ abortion services are walk-in abortion services designed to fit into a woman’s lunch hour.

    Women facing an unplanned pregnancy need time, care and support, not a system that gives abortion clinics a financial incentive to rush them through consultations, scans and abortions on the same day.

    If these plans go ahead, many more lives are likely to be ended by abortion here in the UK.

  3. Extreme abortion up to birth proposals in Scotland

    In Scotland, plans are moving forward to introduce an extreme abortion up to birth law. This would go far beyond the abortion law change recently backed by the Lords for England and Wales.

    A review of abortion law in Scotland, commissioned by Humza Yousaf when he was Scottish First Minister, recommended that the Scottish Government scrap the current 24-week time limit – and abortion be available on social grounds, including for sex-selective purposes, right up to birth.

    The final plans are expected to be brought forward as a Government Bill in the new Scottish Parliament, which began on Thursday.

If these three major threats succeed, thousands of vulnerable lives will be lost.

We cannot allow this to happen.

We can only defeat these three major threats with your help.

We ran our biggest campaigns ever to help defeat the assisted suicide Bills at Westminster and in Scotland.

That work has made a serious dent in our limited resources.

To cover this gap and ensure we can effectively defeat these three major threats in the coming months, we are aiming to raise at least £199,250 by midnight this Sunday (17 May 2026).

We are, therefore, appealing to you to please give as generously as you can.

Every donation, large or small, will make a crucial difference in saving the lives of the unborn and many others. Plus, if you are a UK taxpayer, £1 becomes £1.25 with Gift Aid at no extra cost to you.

By stopping these threats, YOU can save lives during this new Parliamentary session.

Will you donate now to help protect vulnerable lives from these three major threats?

EMERGENCY
APPEAL
to SAVE
lives

Only hours left of the appeal to stop three major anti-life threats.

Only hours left of the appeal to stop three major anti-life threats.