WOMEN mustn’t be criminalised for having an abortion, nevertheless it is “worrying” that a change in law approved by MPs this week could lead on to more late-term abortions, a spokesperson for Church House, Westminster, has said.
On Tuesday, MPs voted by 379 to 137 in favour of an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill brought by the Labour MP for Gower, Tonia Antoniazzi. This disapplies existing criminal law regarding abortion from women “acting in relation to her own pregnancy”. The amendment doesn’t change any law regarding the supply of abortion inside a healthcare setting.
Critical of “outdated abortion law”, Ms Antoniazzi told the story of Nicola Parker, who was charged with procuring an illegal abortion after taking abortion pills when 26 weeks pregnant. The pills were sent via the pills-by-post system established through the Covid-19 pandemic. She was acquitted after her defence made the case that she had believed that she was only six weeks pregnant. Ms Antoniazzi also told the story of a young mother criminalised for an abortion after her partner “coerced her into taking abortion pills bought illegally online”, and of one other woman under investigation for a 12 months after giving birth prematurely.
“Some women in desperate circumstances make selections that lots of us would struggle to grasp. . . Such women need care and support, not criminalisation,” she said.
Among those that opposed the amendment was the Conservative MP for Sleaford and North Hykeham, Dr Caroline Johnson, a consultant paediatrician. She moved an amendment to finish the supply of abortion via telemedicine, in order that a girl would want to have an in-person consultation before lawfully being prescribed the medication. “If we’ve got proper clinics, gestation might be checked, a clinician can ascertain more effectively if a girl is being coerced, and so they could make the abortion medically as secure as possible,” she said. It was lost by 117 to 379.
On Wednesday, a Church House spokesperson said: “This is a highly complex and emotive issue. Whilst women ought to not be criminalised, it’s worrying that this very significant change to the law may result in more late-term abortions, including sex-selective abortions. So it is true that providing an abortion outside the amended 1967 Act stays a criminal offence for abortion providers. We recognise that it is a hugely difficult and essential decision for ladies which shouldn’t be taken calmly, and we must make sure that they’re given the care and support that they need.”
The RC Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Revd John Sherrington, said: “This decision significantly reduces the protection of unborn lives and can lead to grave harm for pregnant women. Women will probably be much more vulnerable to manipulation, coerced, and compelled abortions. This legal change will even discourage medical consultation and make using abortion pills for dangerous late-term, at-home abortions more likely.”
Half the ladies accessing abortion in England and Wales now use the “telemedical” system, made everlasting in 2022. There are currently about 250,000 abortions a 12 months.
