DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson has responded to the news that Labour MP Diane Abbot will attempt to move an amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill which would see the extension of the 1967 Abortion Act to Northern Ireland. Mr. Donaldson said that the DUP will fight hard against such a proposal and has warned the government not to accept the amendment which would fly in the face of the wishes of the people of Northern Ireland. Speaking today the DUP MP said:

“The first thing to note here is that different bodies of law apply in different parts of the United Kingdom. Those who argue that this is about the universal application of a law in the United Kingdom are doing so on the basis of a false premise. The legal system that applies in Scotland is different in many ways from that which applies in England, which in turns differs from Northern Ireland. This amendment is not based on any lofty notion about people in one part of the United Kingdom not having the same rights as others. It is about circumventing the expressed opinions of the Northern Ireland populace.

Every political party in the Northern Ireland Executive is opposed to the extension of the 1967 Abortion Act to Northern Ireland. The leaders of the four main parties and the four main churches wrote to every MP stating their opposition to the extension of the 1967 Act. Indeed in a recent debate on the draft abortion guidelines drawn up by the Northern Ireland Department of Health, representatives from every party in the House, bar the sole PUP member stated their opposition to abortion in Northern Ireland.

The government would be most unwise to accept this amendment as part of the final Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. The people of Northern Ireland do not want 1967-style abortion, regardless of what Diane Abbot or certain pressure groups might say.”


Source : DUP

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