Simon Harris has again put a clampdown on unregulated crisis pregnancy agencies on the backburner after twice promising that it would be a priority.
The health minister committed three months ago to passing legislation before this summer that would add crisis pregnancy counsellors to a list of regulated health professionals. It followed a similar pledge last September. However, the legislation has not been drafted.
Two undercover investigations by The Times found that clinics run by anti-abortion groups were giving misleading advice about the consequences of terminating a pregnancy.
In a recent letter to Brendan Howlin, the Labour leader, Mr Harris said: “I hope the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel will begin to draft the initial regulations in the coming weeks.”
Mr Howlin said: “It is very hard at this point to continue to believe that any determination exists within government to deal with this issue.
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“That Mr Harris is now indicating only that he hopes such drafting will commence is totally unacceptable.”