God delights in justice. As part of our Let Justice Shine series, we’re telling the stories of several people we’ve supported through the Christian Legal Centre and cases we’ve taken on, seeking and pursuing Godly justice.
The womb is perhaps the most dangerous place in the UK to be. Each year, around 200,000 unborn children lose their life under the 1967 Abortion Act. Yet this year, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, abortion practice in this country underwent a huge liberalisation – through dramatic changes smuggled in without proper
Parliamentary scrutiny.
It started just days before the first national lockdown. A notice appeared on the government website, seeming to allow women to conduct their own medical abortions at home. Outcry followed and the notice was removed. Website visitors were reassured that there would “be no changes to abortion regulations.”
Abortion at home
Health Secretary Matt Hancock assured the House of Commons: “There are no proposals to change the abortion rules due to Covid-19.” Health Minister Lord Bethell told the House of Lords:
“…we do not agree that women should be able to take both treatments for medical abortion at home. We believe that it is an essential safeguard that a woman attends a clinic, to ensure that she has an opportunity to be seen alone and to ensure that there are no issues…It is not right to rush through this type of change in a sensitive area such as abortion without adequate parliamentary scrutiny.”
But just days later, the government made an extraordinary U-turn.
Despite all the previous assurances, on 30 March, while Parliament was shut down, regulations were amended to allow women to carry out their own abortion at home, receiving pills by post, after just a phone or video consultation. The change puts women and unborn children at even greater risk and undermines democratic process.
At Christian Concern, we knew that this had to be challenged. Every human being is made in God’s image, and worthy of protection. Our legal team swung into action. We started action seeking judicial review. The urgency meant that we had to work at incredible speed.
We continue to seek justice, despite setbacks at the High Court and Court of Appeal.
Every human being is made in God’s image, and worthy of protection.
The lives and issues at stake are too important to give up, and we are seeking to take the case to the UK Supreme Court.
Please pray for justice to be done and lives to be saved.