A doctor has said she does not think abortion services will be fully developed in Northern Ireland within the next six months.
Chris Heaton-Harris, the secretary for Northern Ireland, declared on Friday that he had written to the Department of Health to give them the go-ahead to officially commission abortion services in the area.
Mr. Heaton-Harris predicted that services would be made available in the upcoming months, but consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist Dr. Laura McLaughlin, who co-founded Doctors For Choice NI, a group that has fought for the availability of abortion services, said there were many pathways that needed to be established.
It is not just the people involved in the operational side of the service, it is beyond that as well. The staff in the hospital, other things such as bereavement services, linking in with our perinatal mental health services
"Some issues need to be resolved. It is a whole new service that is being created from scratch and is being done here in Northern Ireland for the first time, she said on the BBC Inside Politics programme.
"We have been set a deadline of April 2023 for completion of surgical services.
"If that is the case, that would be fantastic. By then, we will have trained clinicians.
"However, it goes beyond only the individuals involved in the service's operational side.
The hospital staff, as well as other elements like grief services, are linked to our perinatal mental health services.
There are numerous channels that still need to be created; however, I doubt that this will happen in the upcoming six months.
"It will be a process that changes over time."
Following measures approved by Westminster at a time when the powersharing administration at Stormont had fallen, Northern Ireland's abortion regulations were liberalised in 2019.
Since then, specific health trusts have provided sporadic, limited services, but due to a political standstill at Stormont, Northern Ireland's Department of Health has never centrally commissioned the implementation of complete services.
The Department of Health no longer needs to obtain permission from the larger executive to commission the services, after to government intervention in May 2021 and the laying of legislation before Parliament.
Additionally, it allowed the Secretary of State the authority to intervene and order the services on his own, which is what Mr. Heaton-Harris did on Friday.
We are thrilled with it, according to Dr. McLaughlin. Although it is unfortunate that the money had to come through the Secretary of State, at this point it will be going to us, and we are happy that it will.
"We would have preferred it to originate from the Department of Health's support.
"Women have been waiting for this service for a very long time, and we as health professionals have been waiting for it as well.
"With finance behind us, we can finally do our work effectively."
We are collaborating with every employee, she continued. We don't want any employees to feel awkward about potentially using a service that goes against their personal beliefs.
"I don't believe we will have a staffing shortage. We operate under the nudge theory, which holds that people gradually come to understand the clients who use the service and the reasons behind their use. Many of our clients use this service to achieve desired pregnancies, which puts them in a situation they could never have imagined.
"We have seen employees join the team so far who may not have participated in the programme initially."
Although health is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland, the province currently lacks a health minister as a result of the DUP's withdrawal of support in protest of the Northern Ireland Protocol following Brexit.
The decision by Mr. Heaton-Harris to proceed with the commissioning of services, according to DUP MP Carla Lockhart, is "fanning the flames of the crisis facing devolution in Northern Ireland."
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