UK Government accepts abortion funding calls to avoid defeat

The government has been forced into a major concession on the funding of abortions for women from Northern Ireland to avoid defeat in a vote on the Queen's Speech.

The Tory minority Government needs the support of the Democratic Unionist Partys 10 MPs. Abortion is currently illeagal in Northern Ireland. (Photo by Daniel Leal-Olivas/Getty Images)

Equalities minister Justine Greening wrote to MPs saying additional funding would be made available so that hundreds of women from Northern Ireland who come to England for terminations on the NHS will no longer be asked to pay.

The government was facing an embarrassing defeat after Commons Speaker selected an amendment from Labour MP Stella Creasy on abortion rights for women in Northern Ireland, demanding that they be given free access to terminations in England.

It was believed the amendment had significant support on the Conservative benches, as well as from Labour and SNP MPs.

The Tory minority Government needs the support of the Democratic Unionist Partys 10 MPs. Abortion is currently illeagal in Northern Ireland. (Photo by Daniel Leal-Olivas/Getty Images)

Abortion is illegal in Northern Ireland in all cases except where a woman’s life is under direct threat from continuing with a pregnancy. The issue was a difficult one for ministers because the Tory minority Government needs the support of the Democratic Unionist Party’s 10 MPs to pass the Queen’s Speech.

The Tory minority Government needs the support of the Democratic Unionist Partys 10 MPs. Abortion is currently illeagal in Northern Ireland. (Photo by Daniel Leal-Olivas/Getty Images)

The DUP, which opposes the relaxation of abortion laws in Northern Ireland, had said the vote was a funding issue for NHS England and therefore an internal matter for the UK Government.

In 2015, 833 women had private terminations in England and Wales, paying anywhere between £400 and £2000 to do so. That figure is down from 1528 in 2000.

In a case involving a 15 year-old girl from Northern Ireland, the Supreme Court ruled in June that the UK Government had the right to refuse to pay for terminations on the NHS.

In June last year, Nicola Sturgeon told MSPs that the Scottish Government was willing to consider paying for abortions for women from Northern Ireland on the NHS in Scotland.

It has previously been reported that some Northern Irish women have had abortions from NHS Scotland by giving an address of a Scottish friend. A Government spokesman said Scottish ministers had been considering the implications of the Supreme Court ruling.

“I am happy to explore with the NHS what the situation is now in terms of the ability of women from Northern Ireland to access safe and legal abortion in NHS Scotland and whether any improvements can be made,” the First Minister said at the time, in response to a question from Green party co-leader Patrick Harvie MSP.

“Like Patrick Harvie, I believe that women should have the right to choose, within the limits that are currently set down in law, and that that right should be defended.

“When a woman opts to have an abortion – I stress that that is never, ever an easy decision for any woman – the procedure should be available in a safe and legal way.”

Speaker John Bercow has also selected two other amendments to the Government’s legislative programme, including a Labour-led amendment to deliver a Brexit that prioritises jobs and delivers the “exact same benefits” of the European single market and customs union.

Another amendment will push for a softer Brexit that allows Britain to remain part of the single market and customs union. Both are expected to be defeated by the Conservatives with DUP support.