The Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020

UK Statutory Instrument 2020 No. 503 — creates 2 criminal offences.

Made

12 May 2020

In force from

14 May 2020

Extent

Not stated

Subject

Miscellaneous

Made under

Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019, S.I. 2020/345

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — published with the instrument by the department that made it. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

These Regulations make provision for the purpose of regulating abortions in Northern Ireland following the repeal, by section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019, of sections 58 and 59 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861. These Regulations revoke the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/345). These Regulations are materially the same as the Regulations revoked, except that cross-references in paragraph 7 in the Schedule to the Regulations have been corrected. The Regulations authorise abortions to be carried out by a ‘registered medical professional’, as defined in regulation 2, in a place referred to in regulation 8 where one of the grounds set out in regulations 3 to 7 is fulfilled. The remaining regulations deal with certification and notification of various matters by registered medical professionals, offences, conscientious objection and consequential amendments. Regulation 16 makes transitional provision to ensure that the revoking and replacement of the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 does not have any practical consequences. A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.

Offences created by this instrument

• A person who, by any means, intentionally terminates or procures the termination of the pregnancy of a woman otherwise… regulation 11(1) · Status not determined · Requires proof of a state of mind
• Certification of opinion by registered medical professional regulation 9(6) · Status not determined · Requires proof of a state of mind

What Parliament said about it

Contributions, debates and written statements mentioning this instrument by name. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

• Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 Commons · General Committees · 8 June 2020
• Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 Lords · Lords Chamber · 15 June 2020
• The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021 Commons · Written Statements · 23 March 2021 · The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Brandon Lewis)

  Yesterday the Minister of State made the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021 which are today being laid before Parliament. The regulations have been made because women and girls in Northern Ireland are still unable to access high-quality abortion and post-abortion care in Northern Ireland. The regulations have been made to ensure, as required by the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019, that all of the recommendations in paragraphs 85 and 86 of the 2018 UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) report are implemented in Northern Ireland.…

• Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021 Lords · Lords Chamber · 28 April 2021 · Lord Morrow

  Leave out all the words after “that” and insert “this House declines to approve the Regulations laid before the House on 23 March because (1) rather than expressing the reality of the union between the constituent parts of the United Kingdom, they place that union in jeopardy, depending as they do on the power in section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019, which was passed despite all of the Members of Parliament representing seats in Northern Ireland who had taken their seats at Westminster voting against amending the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Bill…

• Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021 Lords · Lords Chamber · 28 April 2021 · Baroness O'Loan

  Leave out all the words after “that” and insert “this House declines to approve the Regulations laid before the House on 23 March because (1) the Northern Ireland Assembly is now sitting and the matter is devolved to that legislature; (2) the Regulations raise “complex legal and constitutional questions” in the view of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee; (3) the Regulations go beyond the Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 in that they undermine the devolution settlement in respect of education as well as abortion policy; (4) there has been no public consultation…

• Abortion Services Directions 2021 Commons · Written Statements · 22 July 2021 · The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Brandon Lewis)

  Today I am issuing a direction to the Department of Health, the Minister of Health, the Health and Social Care Board, and to the First and Deputy First Minister, to commission and make abortion services available in Northern Ireland as soon as possible, and no later than 31 March 2022. I am also directing that there should be immediate support for interim services of early medical abortion, which are at risk of collapse. I have a statutory duty to protect the rights of women and girls in Northern Ireland, imposed by section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019. This…

• Abortion Services Commissioning: Northern Ireland Commons · Westminster Hall · 14 December 2021 · Alex Davies-Jones (Pontypridd) (Lab)

  I beg to move, That this House has considered the commissioning of abortion services in Northern Ireland. As ever, it is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mr Pritchard. I am particularly pleased to lead this debate on a topic that is close to my heart. Members may be aware that I recently left my role as shadow Minister for Northern Ireland to join the shadow Digital, Culture, Media and Sport team. The issues on the ground in Northern Ireland are complex, but this topic was always the one that spoke to me the most during my time in the shadow Northern Ireland team. My successor, my hon.…

• Abortion Services Commissioning: Northern Ireland Commons · Westminster Hall · 14 December 2021 · Carla Lockhart (Upper Bann) (DUP)

  It is a matter of deep regret that this House has sought to impose its will above the devolution settlement. At the heart of devolution must lie respect for the areas of legislation that have been determined to fall within the jurisdiction of devolved authorities. In complex and highly charged matters such as abortion, the benefit of the doubt should always be granted to the devolved authorities that they are capable of managing their own affairs. Both the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 and the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021 were passed despite the overwhelming…

How Parliament handled it

Both Houses had to approve this instrument before it could take effect, and did so.

Procedure

Made affirmative — both Houses had to approve it

Could either House amend it?

No. A statutory instrument is put to each House as a whole thing, to be approved or not. Neither House can change a word of it.

Motion to stop it

Tabled

Committee

Drawn to the special attention of the Houses by a scrutiny committee

Recorded divisions

The motion actually voted on:

• Baroness O’Loan moved, as an amendment to the motion to approve the Regulations, leave out from “that” to the end, and insert “this House declines to approve the Regulations because they (1) have been rejected by the Northern Ireland Assembly, (2) are legally flawed by being in breach of section 6 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, (3) do not prohibit abortion on the grounds of non-fatal disability, (4) perpetuate stereotypes towards persons with disabilities, including Down’s syndrome, and (5) do not prohibit abortion on the grounds of sex selection during the first twelve weeks of… The division record

Note the form of words. A member moves “as an amendment to the motion to approve” — the amendment is to the motion, never to the instrument.

Procedural history

• Instrument created 12 May 2020
• Instrument made (signed into law) 12 May 2020
• Laid before the House of Commons 13 May 2020 · Commons
• Laid before the House of Lords 13 May 2020 · Lords
• Instrument comes into force as law 14 May 2020
• Motion to approve the instrument tabled by the Government 15 May 2020 · Commons
• Considered for English votes for English laws (EVEL) certification 15 May 2020 · Commons
• Not certified under the English votes for English laws (EVEL) process 15 May 2020 · Commons
• Considered by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments (JCSI) 20 May 2020 · Commons, Lords
• Not drawn to the special attention of the Houses by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments (JCSI) 20 May 2020 · Commons, Lords
• Motion to approve the instrument tabled by the Government 20 May 2020 · Lords
• Considered by the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) 2 June 2020 · Lords
• Drawn to the special attention of the House by the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) 2 June 2020 · Lords
• Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) draws the special attention of the House to the instrument on the grounds that it is politically or legally important or gives rise to issues of public policy likely to be of interest to the House 2 June 2020 · Lords
• Further information published by the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) 3 June 2020 · Lords
• Delegated Legislation Committee (DLC) debate 8 June 2020 · Commons
• Question put on motion to consider the instrument 8 June 2020 · Commons
• Motion to consider the instrument approved 8 June 2020 · Commons
• Motion to stop the instrument being law tabled 10 June 2020 · Lords
• Motion to stop the instrument being law tabled 11 June 2020 · Lords
• Chamber debate 15 June 2020 · Lords
• Question on motion to stop the instrument being law put 15 June 2020 · Lords
• Motion to stop the instrument being law rejected 15 June 2020 · Lords
• Question on motion to approve the instrument put 15 June 2020 · Lords
• Instrument approved 15 June 2020 · Lords
• Question on motion to approve the instrument put 16 June 2020 · Commons
• Decision on motion to approve the instrument deferred 16 June 2020 · Commons
• Instrument approved 17 June 2020 · Commons
• Instrument remains law 17 June 2020
• Procedure concluded in the House of Commons and the House of Lords 17 June 2020 · Commons, Lords
• Approval period ends 20 June 2020

From Parliament's Statutory Instruments service. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

Check the source

• This instrument on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text, including amendments made since
• Other instruments from 2020