Northern Ireland

Minister urged to act after charity's abortion service ends due to lack of funds

Health minister Robin Swann has been urged to act after a charity service providing an access point for early medical abortion folded due to lack of funding. Picture by Kelvin Boyes/Press Eye/PA Wire
Health minister Robin Swann has been urged to act after a charity service providing an access point for early medical abortion folded due to lack of funding. Picture by Kelvin Boyes/Press Eye/PA Wire Health minister Robin Swann has been urged to act after a charity service providing an access point for early medical abortion folded due to lack of funding. Picture by Kelvin Boyes/Press Eye/PA Wire

HEALTH minister Robin Swann has been urged to act after a charity service providing an access point for early medical abortion folded due to lack of funding.

Informing Choices NI said with "deep reluctance" it is withdrawing the service it has run for 18 months in the absence of commissioned services.

An alternative service will be provided by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service from Monday.

Northern Ireland's abortion laws were liberalised in 2019 following legislation passed by Westminster, but the Department of Health has yet to centrally commission full services due to an impasse within the devolved administration.

Secretary of State Brandon Lewis has directed abortion services are rolled out across the region by the end of March 2022.

Informing Choices NI had warned "as a small charity with limited resources" it could not continue to provide the service without funding.

"Regretfully additional funding has not been provided by the Department of Health. Therefore it is with deep reluctance that we have had no option but to take this action," it said yesterday.

ICNI "will continue to advocate for the urgent commissioning of locally available services... and support women through difficult times with our pregnancy counselling service".

"From Monday October 4, anyone wishing to access these services should contact the British Pregnancy Advisory Service on 03457 304030."

Grainne Teggart of Amnesty International, said "the health minister once again failed to act" and accused him of continuing "to neglect the needs of women and our healthcare professionals".

"It is the minister's job to remove barriers to healthcare, not create them," she said, calling on Mr Swann and the secretary of state "to ensure the commissioning process is swift and clear pathways to compassionate care are established".

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said he was "dismayed" the "vital organisation that provides a range of advice and assistance on reproductive healthcare issues... are unable to continue providing their central access point for abortion services".

"They have been warning about reaching this point for many months but yet the minister has refused to act, once again ensuring that further obstacles are put in the way of women who need access to abortion services in the time of a global pandemic."

The Department of Health said it is considering a funding request received in August "with the intention of bringing a paper to the executive".

A spokeswoman said "an alternative interim advice and referral service has been established, at no additional cost, through the British Pregnancy Advisory Service... (to) ensure continuity of advice and referral services, pending wider decisions on the commissioning of abortion services".

She said the department is preparing proposals on commissioning abortion services to be finalised "as soon as possible" and submitted to the executive "by late 2021/early 2022".