Brandon Lewis – 2022 Comments on Abortion in Northern Ireland

The comments made by Brandon Lewis, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, on 19 May 2022.

Women and girls of Northern Ireland must have access to safe, high-quality abortion services in Northern Ireland, as is their right.

It is absolutely unacceptable that the Executive and Department of Health have failed women and girls, meaning that they cannot currently access the same basic abortion healthcare that is available to women and girls in the rest of the UK.

That’s why I am acting to remove any further barriers to delivering services.

The Department of Health must drive forward the commissioning of abortion services without further delay to ensure that safe abortion becomes embedded into the health and social care system in Northern Ireland.