UK Ministers have formally commissioned abortions in Northern Ireland.

Funding has now been released to enable health and social care trusts to recruit and train staff in the coming months to support the development of "abortion services" in the Province.

NI Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris MP said the government "steadfast in its commitment to ensuring women of Northern Ireland have access to safe, high-quality and local abortion services."

Speaking following the latest development, Rev Trevor Gribben, General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in NI, said:

“Today, hard-pressed doctors and nurses begin a new week caring for people across a desperately under-funded and pressurised NHS in Northern Ireland, a week that also sees the dawn of fully commissioned and funded abortion services, following Friday’s announcement by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

“The fact that Mr Heaton-Harris has chosen to give life to the most destructive liberal abortion regime in these islands is not only deeply regrettable, but deplorable. It is a sad and distressing day for everyone who values the sanctity of life, and is devastating for those who will not live to experience it”.

Rev Gribben added:

“Many people today will be rightly angry that the Secretary of State has prioritised the commissioning of abortion services in the midst of an economic crisis... As a Church with a strong pro-life position we want to make clear that this is not only an affront to democracy, but also to the sacredness of life."