On 28th May 2021, the House of Lords debated a motion to pass the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021. Votes were held on amendments to the motion, in which Bishops took part.
Division 2:
The Bishop of Blackburn, the Bishop of Carlisle, the Bishop of Lincoln, the Bishop of Peterborough, the Bishop of Rochester, the Bishop of Winchester, and the Bishop of Worcester took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Baroness O’Loan to insert that:
“this House declines to approve the Regulations laid before the House on 23 March because (1) the Northern Ireland Assembly is now sitting and the matter is devolved to that legislature; (2) the Regulations raise “complex legal and constitutional questions” in the view of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee; (3) the Regulations go beyond the Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 in that they undermine the devolution settlement in respect of education as well as abortion policy; (4) there has been no public consultation on the Regulations; and (5) the Regulations were laid shortly before the parliamentary Easter recess, which prevented the House considering them before they took effect.”
The amendment was disagreed. Content: 93 / Not Content: 401
The Bishop of Blackburn, the Bishop of Carlisle, the Bishop of Lincoln, the Bishop of Peterborough, the Bishop of Rochester, the Bishop of Winchester, and the Bishop of Worcester voted Content.
Division 3:
The Bishop of Blackburn, the Bishop of Carlisle, the Bishop of Lincoln, the Bishop of Peterborough, the Bishop of Rochester, and the Bishop of Worcester took part in a vote on a motion tabled by Lord Morrow to insert that:
“this House declines to approve the Regulations laid before the House on 23 March because (1) rather than expressing the reality of the union between the constituent parts of the United Kingdom, they place that union in jeopardy, depending as they do on the power in section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019, which was passed despite all of the Members of Parliament representing seats in Northern Ireland who had taken their seats at Westminster voting against amending the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Bill on 9 July 2019 to require the Secretary of State to make regulations to give effect to the recommendations of the report of the Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women, published on 6 March 2018; (2) abortion remains devolved and the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive have now been restored for more than a year; (3) rather than welcoming the restoration of devolution, the draft Regulations undermine it to a greater extent than the Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 as they address devolved policy competencies beyond abortion, including education and health; and (4) the remit of everything in the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 is defined in terms of moving towards the restoration of the Executive which has taken place, so rather than making new regulations as if Stormont was still suspended, and asking Parliament to pass them, Her Majesty’s Government should instead be asking Parliament to repeal section 9.”
The amendment was disagreed. Content: 63 / Not Content: 401
The Bishop of Blackburn, the Bishop of Carlisle, the Bishop of Lincoln, the Bishop of Peterborough, the Bishop of Rochester, and the Bishop of Worcester voted Content.
Division 4:
The Bishop of Blackburn, the Bishop of Carlisle, the Bishop of Lincoln, the Bishop of Peterborough, the Bishop of Gloucester, and the Bishop of Worcester took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by Lord Shinkwin to insert that:
“this House declines to approve the Regulations laid before the House on 23 March because they give the Secretary of State the power actively to commission discrimination in Northern Ireland by denying unborn human beings with disabilities the same protections afforded non-disabled human beings between 24 weeks gestation and full term; and because such commissioning would implicate the Secretary of State, and by extension Her Majesty’s Government, in the perpetuation of negative stereotypes towards people with disabilities, as it would provide that while unborn non-disabled human beings from 24 weeks’ gestation are worthy of protection from termination, those who might be born with disabilities are not.”
The amendment was disagreed. Content: 70 / Not Content: 409
The Bishop of Blackburn, the Bishop of Carlisle, the Bishop of Lincoln, the Bishop of Peterborough, the Bishop of Gloucester, and the Bishop of Worcester voted Content.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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