“The growing discontent in Parliament about these extreme regulations being forced on Northern Ireland shows that there is all to play for when they come up for vote in the next week or so,” said SPUC’s Alithea Williams. “We urge any supporters who haven’t yet done so to contact their MPs asking them to vote against the statutory instrument.”
Question in Westminster after debate at Stormont
A debate in Westminster today saw powerful speeches in defence of the unborn and the right of the people of Northern Ireland to decide their own abortion law.
The debate centred around an “Urgent Question” on the Northern Ireland abortion regulations asked by DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson. Sir Jeffrey asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland “if he will make a statement on the Abortion Regulations for Northern Ireland.” The question was asked after MLAs at Stormont voted by 46 votes to 40 to reject “the imposition of abortion legislation”, including up to birth for non-fatal disabilities.
Sir Jeffrey argued that since the Northern Ireland Assembly is sitting again, and has clearly expressed a view opposing the Westminster Government’s abortion regulations, they should be scrapped and the power to decide on this devolved matter returned to Stormont.
Throughout the debate, Northern Ireland minister Robin Walker MP insisted that the Government has a legal duty to proceed with abortion regulations.
“Imperialist contempt for devolution”
However, nearly half the MPs who spoke in the debate actively opposed the imposition of abortion regulations on Northern Ireland.
Labour MP Rachael Maskell said that ignoring the view of the devolved Parliament “shows an imperialist contempt for devolution”. Danny Kruger, the Conservative MP for Devizes, joined Sir Jeffrey in arguing that eminent legal advice indicates that the UK government has already met its legal obligations, and is free to withdraw from its role in abortion provision in Northern Ireland.
“All lives have an intrinsic human value.”
Perhaps the most powerful speech came from Carla Lockhart, the DUP MP for Upper Bann. She quoted disability advocate Heidi Crowther, who says that laws that discriminate against people like herself who have Down’s syndrome, make her “feel like I shouldn’t exist”. Ms Lockhart concluded by saying: “Both lives matter. It is not just about the woman’s health – it is about both lives. And it is not the right of this Government to implement such liberal abortion laws on Northern Ireland, which will see abortion up to birth for disability.”
Scott Benton, the new MP for Blackpool South and SPUC member, also quoted Miss Crowther, and added: “This House has a responsibility to send out a clear message that all lives matter, and that all lives have an intrinsic human value.”
A baby agrees with abortion?
Throughout the debate, a baby could be heard crying in the Chamber. It turned out that the baby was the daughter of pro-abortion Stella Creasy, the MP who hijacked, and enabled by the UK Government, a routine Northern Ireland bill to impose abortion on Northern Ireland. She spoke in this debate while holding her baby daughter. As the BBC captioned the clip, “’I respect the argument the minister is making - as does my daughter’. Labour MP Stella Creasy holds her baby as she raises the ‘responsibility to uphold the human rights of every UK citizen’."
Contact your MP now
The Northern Ireland regulations are to be debated in a committee next week, and the Statutory Instrument enshrining them into law will be voted on by all MPs shortly after. Alithea Williams, SPUC’s Campaigns and Parliamentary Research assistant, said: “We have already had encouraging indications that many MPs plan to vote against these regulations, and we’d like to thank our supporters who have written to their MPs.
“The growing discontent in Parliament about these extreme regulations being forced on NI shows that there is all to play for when they come up for vote in the next week or so,” she went on. “We urge any supporters who haven’t yet done so to contact their MPs asking them to vote against the statutory instrument.”