House of Lords Members File Measure to Stop Abortions Up to Birth
Two high-profile members of the House of Lords, Baroness Monckton and Baroness Stroud, will be tabling amendments with other Peers to overturn the highly controversial abortion up to birth amendment (clause 191) to the Crime and Policing Bill, and to reinstate in-person consultations with a medical professional prior to an abortion taking place at home.
Click Like if you are pro-life to like the LifeNews Facebook page!
This follows Second Reading of the Crime and Policing Bill today, where a large number of Peers spoke in opposition to the abortion up to birth clause and in support of reinstating in-person consultations, as proposed by Baroness Stroud’s amendment.
An analysis of speeches at Second Reading completed by Right To Life UK’s policy team found that of the 20 Peers who took a position on the abortion up to birth clause in the Bill, 13 (65%) spoke in opposition and 7 (35%) spoke in support of the law change proposed by that clause. This represents almost double the number of Peers who spoke in opposition to the abortion up to birth clause compared with those who supported it.
Amendment to overturn abortion up to birth clause
Clause 191 was introduced by Tonia Antoniazzi MP in the Commons after just 46 minutes of backbench debate – there was no prior consultation with the public, no Committee Stage scrutiny and no evidence sessions.
The clause would change the law so it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason, including sex-selective purposes, and at any point up to and during birth, likely leading to a significant increase in the number of women performing dangerous late-term abortions at home.
The amendment that Baroness Monckton will table, along with other female Members of the House of Lords, would remove clause 191 from the Crime and Policing Bill.
Polling shows that 89% of the general population and 91% of women agree that gender-selective abortion should be explicitly banned by the law – and only 1% of women support introducing abortion up to birth.
Another poll shows that more than half of the general public agree that it should remain the case that a woman is breaking the law if she has an abortion of a healthy baby after the current 24-week legal time limit up until birth. Only 16% disagreed.
The introduction of the clause to the Crime and Policing Bill caused a major backlash, which included 91% of 28,000 respondents to a poll run by The Telegraph saying they were opposed to the extreme law change that would be introduced by clause 191.
Additional information on this amendment is available below this press release.
Amendment to reinstate in-person consultations with a medical professional prior to an abortion taking place at home
Baroness Stroud will also table an amendment, along with other Peers, to reinstate in-person consultations with a medical professional prior to an abortion taking place at home. Baroness Stroud’s amendment would ensure women have an in-person appointment before taking abortion pills at home.
Polling shows widespread public support for the law change that is proposed by Baroness Stroud’s amendment, with two-thirds of women supporting the reinstatement of in-person appointments and only 4% in favour of the status quo.
Baroness Stroud previously warned of the dangers of allowing at-home abortions before the policy was made permanent in March 2022 – many of those dangers have, sadly, since occurred.
Additional information on this amendment is available at the end of this press release.
The Baroness Monckton of Dallington Forest MBE said:
“If passed in its current form, the Crime and Policing Bill would change the law so it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason and at any stage, right up to birth”.
“This is an extreme social change for which there is no public pressure or demand, and could have tragic consequences for women, as well as leading to increased numbers of abortions of viable babies.”
“This radical clause was added to the Bill after less than an hour of debate by MPs, and without the necessary scrutiny required for an issue of such seriousness. Whatever one’s views on abortion, this is not how responsible laws are made”.
“A large number of peers have indicated that they will support my amendment to remove Clause 191 and join me in supporting Baroness Stroud’s amendment to require an in-person consultation before abortion pills are taken at home, so that gestation, health risks and any coercion risks can be properly assessed”.
Baroness Stroud said:
“Supporters of decriminalising abortion up to birth cite a small number of prosecutions of women for illegal late-term abortions in recent years.
“The increase in such cases is a direct result of the ‘pills by post’ scheme, whereby women can receive abortion pills without an in-person consultation to verify their gestational age is within the legal limit”.
“The solution to such cases is not to make matters worse by removing the legal deterrent against women performing their own at-home abortions up to birth, which would likely endanger women further, but to reinstate in-person consultations”.
“I, and many others, warned of the dangers of the ‘pills by post’ scheme when it was introduced. Sadly, those warnings have come true. My amendment would ensure medical professionals can accurately assess a woman’s gestational age, any health risks and the risk of coercion before abortion pills are prescribed”.
“This change has widespread public support and would better protect women by helping prevent further cases of coerced or dangerous late-term abortions linked to the ‘pills by post’ scheme”.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said:
“Pro-abortion MPs hijacked a government Bill to rush through this radical and seismic change to our abortion laws after just 46 minutes of backbench debate”.
“This was the first time this extreme amendment had been debated in Parliament, and there has been no public consultation on this far-reaching change to our laws. If this proposal becomes law, it would be the most significant change to abortion legislation since the Abortion Act was introduced in 1967”.
“The law change would likely lead to the lives of many more women being endangered because of the risks involved with self-administered late-term abortions and also tragically lead to an increased number of viable babies’ lives being ended well beyond the 24-week abortion time limit and beyond the point at which they would be able to survive outside the womb”.
“The abortion lobby is pushing to decriminalise abortion to cover up the disastrous effects of its irresponsible pills by post scheme, which endangers women by removing the requirement for in-person consultations before abortion pills may be prescribed”.
“The solution is clear. We should urgently reinstate in-person appointments. This simple safeguard would help prevent women’s lives from being put at risk from self-administered late-term abortions, a danger that would be exacerbated if abortion were ‘decriminalised’ right up to birth”.
LifeNews Note: Republished with permission from Right to Life UK.
The post House of Lords Members File Measure to Stop Abortions Up to Birth appeared first on LifeNews.com.