To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the Government's policy is on changing the law on abortion in (a) England and Wales and (b) Northern Ireland.

As with other matters of conscience, abortion is an issue on which the Government adopts a neutral stance and allows Members to vote according to their moral, ethical or religious beliefs.

The Abortion Act does not apply to Northern Ireland. Health, and by extension abortion law in Northern Ireland, is a transferred matter and is the responsibility of Northern Ireland Executive Ministers.