The number of abortions in Northern Ireland has risen for the fifth year running since legalisation in 2019.
While abortion has been legal in the rest of the United Kingdom since 1968, much of Northern Ireland was opposed and it used to have one of the most pro-life legal frameworks.
Indeed, legalisation in 2019 did not come because of a change in local priorities but because of the intervention of Westminster which passed an amendment to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act, proposed by Labour MP Stella Creasy.
When no Executive could be formed locally by October 2019, sections 58–59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 were repealed, decriminalising abortion on 22 October 2019.
Since then abortion has risen every year in the province, starting with 1,574 abortions in the year ending 31 March 2021 and reaching 2,899 in the year ending 31 March 2025.
Belfast appears to be the “abortion capital” of Northern Ireland, with the Belfast Trust carrying out the most abortions in the province (797), followed by the South Eastern Trust (676 abortions).
There was a 102.63%% increase in abortions at 13 weeks and over - 154 babies in the year ending 31 March 2025, up from 76 the previous year - and 19 babies with ‘non-fatal disabilities’ were aborted under ground E of the regulations in the past year, up from 16 in 2022 - ground E permits babies with Down’s syndrome, cleft lip and club foot to be aborted up to birth.
Catherine Robinson, Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, called the disability statistics "tragic".
She denounced the “extreme” abortion regime imposed on Northern Ireland by Westminster and said that 100,000 people were likely alive today thanks to the province’s previously stringent laws on abortion.
“It is a great tragedy that 2,899 lives were lost to abortion in Northern Ireland for the year ended 31 March 2025," she said.
“Stormont must act now to take back control and remove this inhumane abortion regime that was forced on Northern Ireland by Westminster.”
