DUP leader Arlene Foster has called Westminster's plans to change Northern Ireland's abortion laws "insidious". 

Amendments made to the Northern Ireland Executive Formation Bill by MPs last week pave the way for abortion for any reason up to 28 weeks in the province - more radical than the 24 week upper limit in the rest of the UK. 

MPs in Westminster voted by a majority of 236 in favour of the Bill, including the repeal of section 58 and section 59 of the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act stripping protections hitherto in place for the unborn. 

The changes will come into effect if Northern Ireland's devolved assembly has not been restored by October 21. 

Ms Foster told BBC Northern Ireland's Sunday Politics Programme that abortion should remain a devolved issue and that the abortion clause was "probably the most insidious of all" provisions in the Bill "because I do not believe there's any support at all to go to a situation where you would have abortion up to 28 weeks".

"There is no way that would pass through the assembly in Northern Ireland," she said.

"So therefore there is a need to deal with that matter and to get a distinctive Northern Irish voice to deal with what the people here want in relation to their abortion laws."

It is widely expected that devolution will not be restored by October 21 to prevent the amendments becoming law. 

Sinn Fein has come out in support of the legislation.  It told the Belfast News Letter that it wanted to see the rest of the UK decriminalise abortion "immediately".

"Sinn Fein supports legislative change in the north and the provision of appropriate, modern and compassionate healthcare services for women across the island," it told the newspaper. 

"Abortion should be available where a woman's life, health or mental health is at risk and in cases of fatal foetal abnormality and in the cases of rape or sexual abuse."

It added: "British legislation which criminalises women who have an abortion should be repealed immediately."

Evangelical leaders and pro-life groups have both strongly criticised the move to relax Northern Ireland's abortion laws. 

Peter Lynas, director of the Northern Ireland Evangelical Alliance, said Westminster MPs had voted to "fundamentally undermine devolution potentially leading to far-reaching changes to abortion law and the redefinition of marriage in Northern Ireland".

Michael Robinson, director of parliamentary communications at The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, called the changes "ruthless".

"The UK has one of the most extreme abortion regimes in the world. Since 1967, our laws have permitted the killing of more than 9 million babies and injured countless women physically and psychologically. The Abortion Act has brought only misery and destruction," he said.

"No society which is genuinely committed to equality and human rights could tolerate such a law. We are now faced with the prospect of an even more extreme situation being imposed on Northern Ireland.

"The people of Scotland, England and Wales cannot simply stand by and watch as this cruel and unjust legislation is enacted in their name."