Bishop Donal McKeown among Irish Catholic Bishops who have voiced concerns over possible changes to North’s abortion laws
Legislation brought by MPs at Westminster means abortion will be decriminalised by next April.
The new law will not take effect if the devolved government at Stormont is restored by Monday, October 21.
The Irish Catholics Bishops’ Conference said it “lamented the tragic rationale that renders an unborn child a commodity”.
Same-sex marriage will also be legalised in the North of Ireland if devolution does not return.
Campaigning on the two issues has been particularly intense in Northern Ireland in recent years, as laws have been liberalised in the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
In a statement, the Bishops’ Conference, which brings together all Catholic bishops on the island of Ireland, said “in Ireland, north and south, there are very specific threats to the respect and dignity that is due to every human life”.
On Monday, the leaders of Ireland’s main churches said they were concerned that unless the assembly was restored, abortion restrictions would reduce significantly.
“Every voter and every political representative should be very clear that abortion is a brutal violation of the precious gift of life,” said the bishops.
“To describe abortion as either healthcare or a human right is to twist language and to misrepresent the true meaning of those terms.
“An unborn baby is every bit as human as a growing toddler, a teenager or a grandparent.”
On Thursday, the North of Ireland’s abortion law was found to breach the UK’s human rights commitments.
The case was taken in Belfast by Sarah Ewart, who challenged the law after she was denied a termination.
The judge said she ruled in Mrs Ewart’s favour as it was not right to ask another woman to relive the trauma that she had already experienced.
Mrs Ewart said the ruling was “a turning point for women” in their campaign against “outdated laws”.
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