Abortion is a matter devolved to Northern Ireland’s representatives. Today, Belfast’s Court of Appeal ruled abortion law in Northern Ireland should be left to the Stormont Assembly, not judges – which overturns an earlier ruling that the current abortion laws are incompatible with human rights laws.
Yet Stella Creasy has taken it on herself to carry on a campaign to undermine abortion law in Northern Ireland by requiring the NHS to fund terminations for women travelling from there to England. That’s why the government conceded today that when Northern Irish women travel to Britain for an abortion, it will be funded by the NHS, so they won’t, as now, have to pay for it.
Stella and her backers – MPs from all parties and, it would seem, Justine Greening – threatened to destabilise the deal between the DUP and the Tory Party with her amendment; inevitably, the Tories cracked.
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