Westminster has "ridden roughshod over the devolution settlement" by launching an awareness campaign on imminent changes to Northern Ireland's abortion laws, the Society for the Protection of the Unborn has said.  

The pro-life group said the campaign planned by the Northern Ireland Office "undermines any consultation process" and "appears to be aimed at directing women to abortion services". 

The campaign was announced by Julian Smith MP, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, in the House of Commons earlier this week. 

He said: "The Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 requires the UK Parliament to introduce laws on same-sex marriage and opposite-sex civil partnerships, abortion and victims' payments.

"This House has spoken, and the duty to legislate will come into effect if the Executive are not back up and running before 21 October.

"My department will shortly begin an awareness campaign to ensure that women and citizens across Northern Ireland are clear as to how we plan to proceed to regulate for these new legal duties."

Abortion is set to be decriminalised in Northern Ireland from 22 October unless the devolved Stormont Assembly reconvenes before that time.  

The new laws will make it possible for women to have an abortion up to the point of viability for any reason, exceeding the upper limit in the rest of the UK which currently stands at 24 weeks. 

Last month, thousands of people marched in protest against the plans at Stormont. 

Responding to the awareness campaign, Philip Lynn, SPUC's Northern Ireland Development Officer, said: "The NIO's decision to launch an awareness campaign on the changes to Northern Ireland's abortion law pre-empts any effort at public consultation and undermines the credibility of any future consultative process.

"The campaign appears to be aimed at directing women to abortion services. It will not provide women with accurate information on the humanity of the unborn child nor the overwhelming evidence of the mental and physical risks associated with abortion."

Mr Lynn said that the Northern Ireland secretary had a duty to work towards the reformation of the Stormont Executive before 21 October.

"Not one of Northern Ireland's sitting MPs voted for these changes, and tens of thousands of people have already taken to the streets, written letters, or signed petitions in protest," he said​.

"By imposing an extreme abortion regime on Northern Ireland, Westminster has ridden roughshod over the devolution settlement. The Secretary of State has a duty to respect the wishes of the people of Northern Ireland and set a date for the reformation of a Stormont Executive before the 21st October."

A petition launched by SPUC asking people in Northern Ireland to call on Julian Smith to reconvene the Assembly has been signed over 1,300 times.

During the Commons debate, DUP MP Ian Paisley accused Westminster MPs of introducing the "most damaging legislation in the history of Northern Ireland" and challenged Smith to call a meeting of the Northern Ireland Assembly. 

In response, Smith spoke of his desire to see the Northern Ireland Executive functioning again. 

"We all have to do everything we can to get things up and running in the coming days and weeks," he said.

"That is important for the issue of abortion, which I believe is best dealt with by the Executive in Northern Ireland for the people of Northern Ireland, but it is also in the best interests of all citizens across Northern Ireland to get decisions done and political decisions made."