Church leaders have come together and expressed “grave concern” at the prospect of “almost unregulated” abortion being forced on NI by Westminster.

The heads of the Church of Ireland, Methodist Church in Ireland, Catholic Church, Presbyterian Church and the Irish Council of Churches have called on congregations to pray, call for change and contact elected representatives.

In the letter, the leaders said: “There is no evidence that these changes reflect the will of the people affected by them, as they were not consulted. They go far beyond the hard cases some have been talking about.”

The affects of the proposed changes are extreme and would include:

• All explicit protection for unborn babies potentially up to 28 weeks will be removed

• No specific protection for unborn babies with disability

• Do not prohibit abortion based on the sex of the baby

The group called on the Secretary of State to recall the Assembly before 21 October to provide an opportunity for the parties to take the steps to stop these laws coming into effect.

Back in July, MPs passed the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Act. It placed a duty on the Government to regulate to provide for access to abortion in NI.

CARE, alongside others has been calling for the Assembly to be restored so MLAs can debate what happens to abortion laws in Northern Ireland.

Last month, 20,000 people took part in a silent walk to Stormont in protest at the planned changes to NI’s life-affirming abortion law.

More recently, more than 700 healthcare workers warned that their rights to conscientiously object to doing an abortion would be threatened by the extreme law reforms.

There are just under 20 days left until the 21 October deadline. CARE NI has a dedicated campaign website – Fearfully and Wonderfully Made – which includes all the latest information.