Members lobbied on abortion move

Abortion is strictly limited in Northern Ireland

An anti-abortion group has called on assembly members to back a motion opposing terminations.

Precious Life has placed adverts in Northern Ireland's newspapers urging support for the DUP's Jeffrey Donaldson and Iris Robinson's motion.

They want the assembly to oppose draft guidelines on the termination of pregnancy, calling them "flawed".

The Department of Health issued the guidelines after a legal case by the Family Planning Association.

Precious Life said the guidelines will change how the law on abortion is interpreted and legalise abortion in Northern Ireland "through the back door".

The motion is a no day named motion, and could be debated any time within the next few weeks.

It calls on the health minister to abandon any attempt to make abortion more widely available in Northern Ireland.

When the department issued the guidelines it said they did not change the law but offered "clinical guidance to health professionals".

The 1967 Abortion Act legalised the practice in England and Wales. But it was never introduced in Northern Ireland, where abortion is strictly limited.

They are only allowed when the expectant mother's life is in danger or when there is a serious long-term threat to her mental or physical health.

The FPA took the Department of Health to court saying women who were entitled to a termination in Northern Ireland have been denied it because of the lack of clarity about the laws on abortion.