In an unforeseen turn of events, SPUC’s legal challenge to the 2021 Northern Ireland Abortion Regulations is to be postponed. The case, that questions the limits of the legal authority of the Secretary of State to advance the London Government’s abortion agenda without the cooperation of Ministers in the devolved institutions, will now be heard in late January 2023.

The unexpected development came on Wednesday, 9 November, on what was supposed to be the second day of oral submissions before the Court of Appeal. On day one of the case, John Larkin, SPUC’s senior counsel, drew the Court’s attention to the wording used in Section 9 of the Northern Ireland Executive Formation (NIEF) Act 2019 — the law that decriminalised abortion in the Province. Mr Larkin contrasted this section with the text of other parts of the same Act. 

According to the Northern Ireland Office, Section 9 gives Chris Heaton-Harris, the Secretary of State, sweeping powers to override the terms of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and direct Stormont Ministers to disregard their Pledge of Office. Mr Larkin, however, showed that the power conferred on the Secretary of State was, in fact, much more limited than the Government believed.

Mr Larkin’s argument appeared to take the Secretary of State’s legal team completely by surprise so, on Wednesday morning, they asked for more time to consider how they might respond to it. The Court granted an adjournment and decided not to move forward with the rest of the case.

Commenting on the decision to halt the proceedings, Michael Robinson, SPUC’s Executive Director of Public Affairs said: “The Court has recognised that this is a very important case so we are very disappointed that the Government’s lawyers have had it adjourned. While the reaction to our argument shows that it is potentially decisive, we are concerned that the Secretary of State will take this delay to pursue his plans.” 

Last month, frustrated that the health service was not capable of meeting the Government’s target of 6500 abortions annually, the Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris announced his intention to finance the Northern Ireland Office’s abortion agenda by reallocating money from the existing health budget. 

“That would add insult to injury,” said Mr Robinson, “it will mean using money earmarked for the preservation of health to end the lives of unborn children. We would urge the Secretary of State to reconsider his interpretation of Section 9 of the NIEF Act and not to press ahead with a radical abortion agenda that does not have the support of the people of Northern Ireland.”