A South Belfast MLA has warned that a lack of signposting for abortion services is causing pregnant women to "unknowingly visit rogue clinics".
SDLP MLA Matthew O'Toole has now written to the Belfast Trust to criticise a lack of communication about abortion services to constituents.
The failure to commission abortion services in Northern Ireland means that people are still having to travel for abortion access.
This is not good enough, we need proper services in place.
If you need #CAREATHOME, see more below 👇https://t.co/7MHu2hiHtp pic.twitter.com/vo83G58oIi— Alliance For Choice (@All4Choice) July 11, 2022
Abortion was legalised in the North of Ireland in 2020. However, Health Minister Robin Swann has failed to commission local services.
In a letter to the Belfast Trust, Mr O'Toole expressed concern about a "lack of clear public messaging" around abortion.
"The Belfast HSC Trust is the only trust in Northern Ireland which does not have a section on its website that signposts to the Informing Choices referral pathway into the Early Medical Abortion (EMA) services, often on their Sexual Health Services pages," he wrote.
"As you know, given the lack of service being commissioned by the Health Minister, the service provision is not to the standard that people expect. Indeed, the current situation across all trusts is that anyone seeking an abortion beyond 10 weeks will have to access care in England via the central booking system that is provided by MSI Reproductive Choices."
The SDLP man called for the relevant information to be added to the Trust's website.
Mr O'Toole added: "Unfortunately, a lack of clear public messaging has reportedly led to some patients unknowingly visiting rogue clinics that fail to provide patients with the abortion care that they seek. Therefore, from a patient safety perspective it is particularly vital that these services are communicated to the public."
The South Belfast News has contacted Belfast Trust and is awaiting a response.
