Abortion Northern Ireland: MPs block Chris Heaton-Harris' plans for RSE in schools - forcing them to a full vote in House of Commons

His regulations are based on 2018 recommendations for Northern Ireland from a New York-based UN committee (The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women).

It recommended that RSE in NI should be done in “a factual way that does not advocate, nor oppose, a particular view on the moral and ethical considerations of abortion or contraception”.

By contrast, RSE in England takes into account the faiths of pupils.

His plans were approved by the NI Human Rights Commission and NSPCC but criticised by the main church denominations, the DUP and SDLP peer Baroness Ritchie.

Last week the influential cross-party House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee criticised his “controversial” plans, for failing to undertake a full public consultation, as is done in England.

In a heated debate on Monday night at the Delegated Legislation Committee in Parliament, DUP MPs Jim Shannon, Gregory Campbell, Sammy Wilson and Ian Paisley quizzed Mr Heaton-Harris on the lack of public consultation.

Mr Shannon said that “parents in Strangford and across Northern Ireland have not been given the same consultation facility as those in the secretary of state’s constituency".

Mr Wilson added that the move “does not respect the deep faith that people – parents, teachers and school boards of governors – have, and it does not even provide for a parental opt-out”.

He added that “we have even circumvented the normal process in this House”.

But Mr Heaton-Harris defended his plans, saying that the Stormont Department of Education has been undertaking consultation on its own RSE plans for a number of years and that these findings would now be used for his regulations.

He also added that consultation with parents on RSE is “already common practice in Northern Ireland” because schools' existing RSE policy statements were drafted in consultation with parents.

The minister claimed that his plans “do not change that approach”.

It will be up to the Stormont Department of Education to decide how parents can opt their children out of such lessons – and when teachers can opt out of teaching them, he added.

Speaking after the debate, DUP MP Carla Lockhart said that many head teachers and teachers have contacted her expressing concern that “their right to religious belief, and their position on the right to life, will now be used to discriminate against them in the workplace”.

The regulations were due to pass on the nod in the House of Commons tonight, but some MPs vocally protested, pushing the matter to a full vote in the Commons tomorrow, Wednesday 27 June.

Also speaking after the debate, Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for Right To Life UK called on MPs to reject the regulations, which she noted would teach students aged 11 to 16 years old about abortion.

“Seventy-nine percent of respondents to a public consultation on introducing abortion to Northern Ireland opposed introducing abortion to the region and polling showed that two-thirds of women in Northern Ireland did not want abortion laws imposed by Westminster,” she said.

“The people of Northern Ireland made it clear that they did not want abortion introduced to Northern Ireland, but the UK Government ignored them and forced it on them”.

“Now the UK Government is adding insult to injury and forcing schools throughout Northern Ireland to teach about abortion in schools”.

However a Northern Ireland Office spokesperson defended the plans

"A large majority of schools in Northern Ireland currently outsource Relationship and Sexuality Education to third party providers, due to limited professional learning opportunities, and teacher confidence to deliver Relationship and Sexuality Education,” she said.

"The matter of whether teachers object to teaching scientifically accurate education on sexual and reproductive health and rights, including access to abortion and contraception, will be a matter for the Department of Education, as they have overall responsibility for education in Northern Ireland.

"Educating adolescents on issues such as contraception and access to abortion in Northern Ireland, should be done in a factual way that does not advocate, or oppose, a particular view on the moral and ethical considerations of abortion or contraception.”