Amendment to decriminalise abortion passed
Last night, on Tuesday 17 June, MPs voted overwhelmingly for an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which serves to decriminalise abortion right up to birth for any “woman acting in relation to her own pregnancy.”
The amendment passed by a majority of 379 to 137 votes. You can see how your MP voted here.
The amendment still needs to pass through the House of Lords before it becomes law. We will continue to work to oppose this amendment in the House of Lords at every stage.
Massive change to the law
If it becomes law, this would be the biggest change to abortion laws since abortion was first legalised in 1967. It creates a seismic shift in law away from protecting human life in the womb. The amendment was passed with just 46 minutes of debate in the House of Commons. There was no consultation with the public, and no evidence sessions or Committee Stage scrutiny has taken place.
This amendment means that the law will allow a woman to carry out her own abortion right up to birth for any reason at all. This includes for sex-selective abortions, or just because the woman has decided not to carry through with the pregnancy for whatever reason.
Dangerous for women and their babies
The most significant effect of this is likely be that there are no legal repercussions for women who take abortion pills well beyond the ‘safe’ limit of 10 weeks gestation, or even beyond the current legal limit for all abortions of 24 weeks gestation. This is extremely dangerous for the woman herself, as well as for her baby. It is likely to lead to a significant increase in women performing dangerous late-term abortions at home. It also increases the risk of coercion by a partner to take abortion pills beyond the current legal limit because there is no legal incentive not to.
Abortion is not a ‘human right’
Stella Creasy MP, who had tabled an even more extreme decriminalisation amendment, argued in the debate that abortion is a ‘human right’. In response, Sir John Hayes, pointed out that the intention stated when the Abortion Act 1967 was debated in Parliament was not “to leave a wide open door for abortion on request.” The fact is, however, that what we now have is abortion on demand available to any woman who phones up and requests abortion pills. The new amendment will fully legalise abortion on demand for any reason right up to birth.
It is an absolute perversion to refer to abortion as a human right. How can it be a human right to end the life of another human? How can it be that the law protects human life once out of the womb, but regards the same life as disposable and dispensable just before it gets out of the womb? This is not humane, it is evil. This kind of law has no place in a civilised society.
Law acts as a deterrent
In the debate, Carla Lockhart MP argued that the law acts as a deterrent. She pointed out that late-term abortions increased in the State of Victoria and in New Zealand after decriminalisation. In New Zealand, there was a 43% increase in late-term abortions after 20 weeks’ gestation in 2020 compared with 2019.
Law should protect life. Good law should also protect women from highly dangerous late-term DIY abortions. Even within the current 10-week limit for abortion pills, 1 in 17 women require hospital treatment. Later term abortions will be much more dangerous with extensive bleeding, pain, and blood loss. This is why over 1,000 medics wrote a letter to MPs urging them to reject this amendment. They argued that such a change would lead to “serious risks” to women’s health, because self-administered late-term abortions are highly dangerous.
Law teaches society what is right and wrong. If the law says it is OK to have a late-term abortion, then society starts to accept that late-term abortions are morally acceptable. This is why late-term abortions have increased where abortion is decriminalised. Law should protect people from doing dangerous things. This law pretends that late-term abortion is safe, when it really is not.
Amendment to require in-person consultations defeated
On the same day, MPs voted down an amendment which sought to require in-person consultations for abortions. This amendment would have ended telemedicine abortion which was introduced during the covid pandemic, initially as an emergency measure, and then made permanent by Parliament in 2022. Christian Concern challenged the legality of the initial decision to allow DIY abortions at home and also exposed through a mystery client investigation that women can obtain these pills with fake names, false gestation, false contact details and false GP registration data.
This amendment, brought by Dr Caroline Johnson MP, failed to pass by 379 to 117 votes. You can see how your MP voted on this amendment here.
Recent polling found that two-thirds of women back a return to in-person appointments, with only 4% in favour of the status quo. A return to in-person appointments would allow medics to check for any health risks and to check the gestational age and any risks of coercion. It would also mean that women cannot obtain or take these pills beyond the ten-week gestation limit.
Time to fight back
If this amendment becomes law, we will have legalised abortion on demand for any reason right up to birth. Christian Concern will fight to oppose this amendment in the House of Lords at every stage. No civilised society should legislate in this way with such disregard for the sanctity of human life and for the safety of women. Because not only will this lead to the senseless killing of more unborn babies, but it will also cause massive harm to women, even more than abortion already has in this nation.
We pray that this marks a turning point. The Devil always over plays his hand. Many people are shocked at the way this has happened so quickly and with so little public debate and such a short debate in Parliament.
Prominent therapist and campaigner James Esses, for example, stated on X that while he has supported assisted suicide for some time, he has now seen how parliament voted to decriminalise abortion and no longer has faith in Parliament on life issues.
Today it is illegal to even talk about abortion anywhere near an abortion clinic. Tomorrow, if this amendment becomes law, it will be legal to abort a baby right up to birth. It is time for the Church to act.
No church can remain silent on this issue any longer. The church has to wake up. We need to be a voice for the voiceless. We to sound a clarion call for the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.
This amendment, more than ever, has made abortion indefensible. Now is the time to act – there is nothing to lose, and everything to gain. This is the time to renew our efforts and be prepared to do whatever is required to reinstate the sanctity of life in this nation.
In the face of these brazen attacks on life, we need to be bolder than ever. It’s time to fight for life.
