Belfast Protest at High Court
Mr Justice Kerr rejected an attempt by the Family Planning Association (FPA) to force health chiefs into setting out the circumstances in which abortions were legal.
But even though he accepted the Department of Health was under no obligation, the judge stressed that such a move may help end the confusion.
The FPA is to consider launching an appeal against the ruling, demanding the same access to abortion facilities available to women elsewhere in the UK.
As he delivered the ruling, Mr Justice Kerr pointed out that only four women who travelled from Northern Ireland to England and Wales between 1993 and 1997 could lawfully have had the operation in the North.
Eight thousand women from Northern Ireland travelled to Britain for abortions between 1993 and 1997,
Under current laws women can only have a termination in the North if their life is at risk or if there is a serious threat to their mental or physical health by continuing the pregnancy.
