Politicians in Northern Ireland (NI) have accused Westminster of ‘riding roughshod’ over the will of the Province, following the imposition of highly permissive abortion laws.
The new abortion regime came into force in March, despite massive resistance from the public and campaign groups and no mandate from the Northern Ireland Assembly.
The changes to the abortion laws in NI go far beyond the law in the rest of the UK, with abortions allowed for any reason up to 12 weeks.
In an Assembly debate on the issue, MLA Paul Givan highlighted that 79 percent of those who responded to a government consultation opposed any change in the law.
He said, ‘The British Government, once again, rode roughshod over the will of the people in this country.’
Mr Givan added the unborn ‘have as much a right to life as those whom we are seeking to protect in our response to Covid-19’.
Also during the debate, MLA Paul Frew agreed, saying Westminster and the Northern Ireland Office had made a ‘mockery’ of democracy.
Meanwhile, the BBC has admitted it was biased in the way it reported the abortion issue in Northern Ireland.
In a complaint that has been upheld, a viewer criticised the fact that BBC News failed to provide both sides of the debate when reporting on the House of Commons vote to impose abortion on the Province.
Andrew Todd complained to the broadcaster after coverage of the parliamentary vote in July 2019 only showed interviews with people who were pro-abortion.
