Swann under pressure to set out position on abortion move
But UUP leader backs his minister, insisting whole Executive must deal with divisive issue
ROBIN Swann has been challenged to lay out his response to the Government’s move to force Stormont’s Department of Health to roll out abortion services in Northern Ireland.
Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw has submitted an urgent oral question to the Speaker asking the Health Minister to explain his position in the Assembly on Monday.
Ulster Unionist leader Steve Aiken said that any “unilateral decision” by Mr Swann to commission abortion services would breach the Northern Ireland Act and the Ministerial Code.
But this explanation was rejected by Ms Bradshaw and by Green Party leader Clare Bailey and People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll, who accused the minister of failing women.
The DUP said that any intervention by London would set a “dangerous precedent” and be “a very serious breach of the devolution settlement”.
The Government is set to take legislative action at Westminster next week to give Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis the powers to force the Department of Health to roll out abortion services here.
Northern Ireland’s abortion laws were liberalised by Westminster in 2019 when devolution was suspended.
While individual health trusts are offering services on an ad hoc basis, the Department of Health has not centrally commissioned them on a region-wide basis, meaning that women are still travelling to England to access abortion.
Defending Mr Swann, his party leader said: “Abortion is a cross-cutting and controversial issue and should be dealt with by the whole Executive.
“Any unilateral decision by the Health Minister to commission and fund new abortion services without Executive approval would be a breach of the Northern Ireland Act and the Ministerial Code.
“It’s deeply regrettable that some political parties are seeking to score points on such a sensitive issue. Instead of taking cheap pot-shots, why don’t they get around the Executive table and sort this out?”
Ms Bradshaw said that Mr Swann had a “legal duty” to ensure that abortion services were delivered. “Health is his portfolio. It is not for any health minister to pick and choose what healthcare to provide,” she said.
“There is still the opportunity for Stormont to forego ongoing intransigence and to provide a compassionate and supportive framework for women.”
Mr Carroll, meanwhile, said: “Stormont is so far behind on abortion rights, it almost makes Westminster look progressive.
“Westminster’s intervention is not ideal, but Stormont has failed to legislate for women’s reproductive rights. Robin Swann has failed to implement these measures; he has failed women.”
Ms Bailey added: “The legal duty is on the UK Government to ensure compliance with human rights obligations. The Westminster government has acted in line with their responsibilities.
“It’s an affront to women that we are still being denied reproductive healthcare a year since the decriminalisation of abortion and over 50 years since abortion was legalised by the UK Government.”
DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said his party made its opposition to London intervention clear to the Secretary of State.
“It creates a very dangerous precedent when the government at Westminster intervenes to go over the head of the Executive and Assembly in circumstances where that Executive and Assembly is fully functioning and has the right and the power to take those decisions,” he told the BBC.
Mr Donaldson warned that “if he (Mr Lewis) can do it on this, then it could happen on many other areas”.
The Presbyterian Church also said the move would “seriously undermine” devolution and called on Mr Lewis to withdraw the proposal. Sinn Fein Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey said there must be no more delays in commissioning “modern healthcare services for women” and called on Mr Swann to “fulfil his legal obligations urgently”.
‘It’s an affront to women that we are still being denied reproductive healthcare a year since the decriminalisation of abortion’