Archbishop John Sherrington has added his voice to those concerned a few controversial amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that may effectively legalise abortion as much as the purpose of birth.
The amendment removes all criminal sanctions from abortion and was passed by the House of Commons earlier this yr and is currently being debated within the House of Lords.
Archbishop Sherrington, who’s the Lead Bishop for Life Issues for the Catholic Church in England and Wales, said he was “deeply distressed” on the proposal, adding that it threatened the security of vulnerable women in addition to unborn children.
“This amendment would allow women to perform abortions at home, as much as birth, whatever the circumstances,” he said.
“Such a law places the health of ladies at greater risk in addition to placing them vulnerable to coercion, as more women may use abortion pills to perform late-term, ‘DIY’ abortions.
“The amendment also threatens the lives of many more children, who could possibly be aborted after the present 24-week limit.”
The archbishop said he supported an amendment proposed by Baroness Monckton that may repeal the Commons amendment, and one other proposal that may reinstate the requirement for in-person medical consultations before an abortion could possibly be granted.
Opposition to unlimited abortion has been strong within the Lords. Crossbench peer Lord Alton said that the Commons had voted for a “grotesque measure” and denounced campaigners for turning a bill that was imagined to be about stopping crime into an abortion battleground.
“Hijacking an unrelated Bill to attempt to force through what can be the biggest change to abortion law on this country for the reason that Abortion Act in 1967 isn’t any solution to make law,” he said.
At present British law permits abortion as much as 24 weeks right into a pregnancy, while the common within the European Union is 12 weeks. Around 1 / 4 of one million babies are aborted every yr at present and it’s estimated that nearly 11 million babies have been terminated for the reason that passage of the Abortion Act in 1967.

