Women from Northern Ireland who seek a free NHS abortion in England will also receive state support to pay for their travel costs, the Government has announced.
Those who meet defined financial hardship criteria will be eligible for the hand-out, Justine Greening said.
Ms Greening, the Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities, announced in the summer that the NHS in England would start to provide abortions free of charge to those women who travel from Northern Ireland.
Justine Greening, Secretary for Education and Minister for Women said the NHS in England would provide abortions free of charge to women who travel from Northern Ireland
A challenge to Northern Ireland’s abortion laws is being heard at the Supreme Court. The case is being taken by Gerain Teggart from Amnesty International, Sarah Ewart and Jane Christie
Ulster’s strict laws on terminations result in women making the journey across the Irish Sea to have an abortion.
Ms Greening said abortions had been offered free of charge since her June announcement.
‘This is comparable with the service that women in England receive,’ said Ms Greening.
She said there would be a central booking service established giving Northern Ireland women a single telephone number to call to make an appointment.
The Conservative government avoided a potential Commons defeat with its abortion announcement.
On Monday, Ms Greening again made clear that the Government was not seeking to change the legal position in Northern Ireland.
‘My original statement was clear this does not change the position in relation to the provision of abortions in Northern Ireland, which is a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive and the Northern Ireland Assembly,’ she added.
‘That remains the case. Our proposals do not include the provision of any services in Northern Ireland.’
It came as a challenge in the UK’s highest court heard Northern Ireland’s strict abortion law criminalise ‘exceptionally vulnerable’ women and girls and subjects them to ‘inhuman and degrading’ treatment.
A QC told a panel of Supreme Court justices in London yesterday that human rights were being breached, with those affected being forced to go through ‘physical and mental torture’.
Nathalie Lieven, who represents the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC), is asking the court to rule that a prohibition on abortions where a pregnancy arises from rape or incest, or ‘involves a serious foetal abnormality’, is unlawful.
The hearing is expected to last three days.