Dear SPUC supporter,

Last Thursday we wrote to you  asking you to contact your MP about the vote taking place today on the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations.

Thank you to those of you who have already written to your MP.
 
As you may have seen, over the weekend the Government pulled the vote. It seems that these regulations were so sloppily written that the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments said they were too defective to be voted on in this format.
 
However, this is only a temporary respite. The Statutory Instrument will be reintroduced shortly, and will be voted on within 28 days. We will let you know the date in due course.
 
We need to keep up the pressure on the Government to withdraw these horrendous regulations for good. It is time for Boris Johnson to respect the Good Friday Agreement. He should repeal Section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Act and return authority for abortion law in Northern Ireland to the people of the Province and their elected representatives. Sadly abortions will still be able to happen in Northern Ireland throughout this period.
 
If you haven't yet done so, please contact your MP and ask him/her to vote against the Statutory Instrument when it is reintroduced, and to speak against the abortion regulations in Parliament. Please also encourage others to write to their MP on this important matter.
 
The key points to make to your MP are:

• These regulations permit abortion on demand and even abortion up to birth in some cases.

• Authority for abortion law in Northern Ireland should be returned to the people of Northern Ireland and their political representatives at Stormont. 

• Seventy-nine per cent of the people in Northern Ireland who responded a public consultation on the regulations rejected the government’s proposals.

• According to the Attorney General for Northern Ireland, John Larkin, the minister "exceeded his powers" in introducing these abortion regulations.

• Mr Larkin also questioned whether the legislation gives adequate protection, under the European Convention on Human Rights, to the rights of those who oppose abortion on religious or philosophical grounds.

• The regulations lack all legitimacy and Boris Johnson should stop trying to force them on the people of Northern Ireland. 

Please mail or phone your MP now asking him/her to speak out against this extreme abortion regime and to vote down the statutory instrument. 

With all good wishes,

Antonia Tully
Director of Campaigns