Pro-life groups relieved after Sunak calls snap general election

Pro-life groups say it is sweet news that Rishi Sunak has called a snap General Election for 4 July because it implies that the Criminal Justice Bill and extreme abortion amendments tabled by MPs are “impossible to survive”. 

Following Wednesday’s announcement, Parliament might be soon be dissolved, meaning that dozens of Bills might be unable to proceed any further this side of the election. 

It is feasible for Bills to be fast-tracked through Parliament before it’s dissolved for a general election, but this requires agreement. 

Commenting on the news, Alithea Williams, public policy manager on the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), said it was “almost certain” that the Criminal Justice Bill and extreme abortion proposals tabled by Diana Johnson and Stella Creasy wouldn’t proceed.

“An enormous, contentious bill just like the Criminal Justice Bill is impossible to survive such a process. It is much more unlikely that controversial amendments, resembling those referring to abortion, might be passed before Parliament dissolves,” she said. 

Amendments by Diana Johnson and Stella Creasy called for the decriminalisation of abortion. 

Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for Right To Life UK, said that even when the Criminal Justice Bill were to be fast-tracked before Parliament is dissolved, it is extremely unlikely that the ultimate draft would come with controversial amendments which have not yet been considered. 

“This implies that the 2 extreme abortion as much as birth amendments tabled by Diana Johnson and Stella Creasy will no longer pass and these extreme changes to our abortion laws is not going to change into law,” she said. 

“If these amendments had passed within the House of Commons, they’d have ushered in the biggest change to abortion laws since 1967 – this is able to have likely led to the lack of many more lives to abortion.” 

She added, “The pro-abortion amendments, had they change into law, would have likely resulted in lots of more lives being lost to abortion.

“These lives have been saved by this major victory.”