Northern Ireland’s former justice minister, David Ford, has put forward a private member’s bill to decriminalise abortion in the case of fatal foetal abnormality.

He said the bill would put into law proposals which he was unable to move forward as justice minister in the last Stormont administration.

Speaking ahead of moving the bill, Mr Ford said: “I am pleased the Speaker’s Office has now decided to accept my private member’s bill and begin the process which I hope leads to the reform desperately needed for women in Northern Ireland who wish to access terminations.

“As Justice Minister, I attempted to bring legislation to the Executive to allow that but other parties blocked it and failed to accept my recommendations. That left women in those circumstances with no option but to continue the pregnancy or make the journey to England to seek a termination.

“My Bill solely deals with abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities. I hope it will be the next step on the road to both confronting and changing the reality of the situation women given such a diagnosis currently face.”

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Claire Sugden has come under pressure to publish a key report on abortion.

A cross-departmental working group presented a report to the Northern Ireland Executive in October, but its contents have not been disclosed - despite reports that the report does recommend a change in the law.

Ms Sugden said: “The report was never intended to be for publication to the general public. It was to inform both myself and the health minister and then we would have discussions with the wider Executive.”

However, she added: “That’s not to say we won’t publish the report.”

Mr Ford has called for the report to be published immediately.

He said: “As a result of the introduction of my Bill on FFA, I am expecting significant interest from other MLAs and the public on the issues surrounding this matter. Therefore, I believe this would be the right time to release the report of the working group.

“It would give the Assembly the longest possible period of time to consider the working group’s recommendations in relation to the Bill. I call on the Ministers to release this report publicly at the earliest opportunity and help move along the process.

“This would give people the opportunity to consider the legislative change needed to help women who decide to seek a termination in these traumatic circumstances.”