The High Court in Northern Ireland has heard that women do not have access to abortion services 14 months after they became legal.
Lawyers for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) told the court this was due to a "lamentable and deeply troubling exercise in finger pointing" and an "abdication of legal responsiblities".
The case is being taken against the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, the Stormont Executive and the Department of Health.
The court was told that government bodies are blaming each other for the delay.
Abortion has been legal in Northern Ireland since the end of March 2020.
This came about after MPs in Westminster acted at a time when the powersharing government at Stormont had collapsed
However, since then, abortion services have been provided on an ad-hoc basis by individual health trusts and full services across the region have yet to be commissioned by the Department of Health.
Counsel for the Commission, David Blundell QC, said the failure to deliver the services breaches the human rights of women and girls enduring a "truly terrible impact and predicament" of either travelling to England for an abortion or take unregulated pills.
He told the court that the Secretary of State says this is a matter for the Department of Health, who in turn say that approval from the NI Executive is needed.
The Executive, meanwhile, denies having the necessary powers.
"What emerges from the position of the parties is a lamentable and deeply troubling exercise in finger pointing and an abdication of legal responsibilities," Mr Blundell said.
He also said that at no stage has there been an option for a woman to have an abortion after 10 weeks, even if their life was in danger.
They said the only services available were early medical abortions, but even at that, they were not availabe to all women due to the closure of some hospital services during the pandemic.
They also argued that support services like state-run counselling which are "critical to the provision of abortion services" had not been provided.
Mr Blundell said that since the end of March 2020, the Secretary of State was aware of the need to have an agreement in the Executive to progress the plans but that he made no enquiries as to it's position between then and last October.
The NIHRC says that it was clear that by October 2020 there needed to be an intervention by the Secretary of State.
The court was told that the Secretary of State has a legal duty imposed on him by parliament to act "expeditiously" to introduce the required services to protect the human rights of women and girls in Northern Ireland.
Counsel for the NIHRC said that the impact on them is "significant" and is known by the Secretary of State.
Mr Blundell told the court that the Department of Health contends that the Covid-19 pandemic was a factor in the delay, but he said this was actually a factor in favour of the Commissions case.
"Covid rendered access to abortion facilities in England practically impossible", he said.
He said while the Executive claims that it has no power to provide health care services, the NIHRC allege that it's "failure to agree the commissioning" of abortion services means the Department of Health has been "deprived of the executive power to act".
Mr Blundell said that Department claims it is obliged to bring the matter before the Executive and that without agreement there it can't go further.
In closing submissions to the High Court , NIHRC said that in practice, women in Northern Ireland continue to face the "deplorable choice" between travelling to England for abortions, accessing unregulated services on the internet or carrying an unwanted pregnancy to full term.
They said that the Northern Ireland Secretary of State Brandon Lewis' "wait and see approach" to the situation placed "political sensitivities over the rights of women and girls".
David Blundell QC, said the issue of difficulties in obtaining Executive approval for abortion services had been raised repeatedly both by the Health Minister and at an official level and special adviser level.
And it was put to the court that the Secretary of State had stuck his head in the sand.
Mr Blundell submitted to the court that the Northern Ireland Secretary of State was in breach of his duty to act expeditiously.
He said that not only is the pandemic not an excuse for the delay to providing abortion services, but it also makes it "even more important" to make the required changes because women couldn't even access the interim solution of travelling to England as travel was not permitted.
He argued that it was not relevant that some health trusts in Northern Ireland were providing limited abortion services up to 10 weeks.
"It was totally precarious", they said, arguing that for most of the time there has been at least one trust who wasn't providing services, with the others unable to pick up the work.
Earlier, the Northern Ireland Secretary of State has said he "will not hesitate to act" if abortion services are not delivered.
Brandon Lewis made the comment on twitter on this morning saying: "women have waited far too long already for access to these fundamental healthcare services" and he said "it is imperative this is delivered".
"I will not hesitate to act if it is not", he said.
Women have waited far too long already for access to these fundamental healthcare services.
— Brandon Lewis (@BrandonLewis) May 26, 2021
It is imperative this is delivered.
I will not hesitate to act if it is not. https://t.co/GUUMorQ6XX
The NIHRC argues that the failure to deliver abortion services is a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Abortion laws in Northern Ireland were liberalised in 2019 by MPs in Westminster at a time when the powersharing government at Stormont had collapsed.
Laws permitting terminations in all circumstances during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy came into effect last March.
In April of this year, the House of Commons approved regulations which enable the Secretary of State to take action on the rolling out of abortion services.
The case is expected to be heard over two days.
