One of the largest changes to abortion law for 50 years may very well be about to occur.
In a couple of weeks’ time, politicians at Westminster could well be asked to vote on one in all the largest change to abortion law in England and Wales because the Abortion Act was passed in 1967.
At least one amendment to this end has been tabled to the UK Government’s Criminal Justice Bill. The aim of this amendment is to remove criminal penalties for ladies whatever the gestation of the pregnancy.
It is vital to be as clear as possible about what this might mean. Firstly, that you must know that the 1861 Offences Against the Persons Act makes it illegal to offer an abortion and to get one.
What the 1967 Abortion Act did was set out a variety of exemptions to this laws. Under the ’67 Act, abortion is legal under five possible grounds. Most abortions happen pre-10 weeks, with an upper-limit of 24 weeks. An abortion could also be granted in cases of significant handicap as much as birth.
The situation has been further complicated by the expansion of the abortion pills-by-post scheme. This was initially a short lived measure passed through the Covid-19 pandemic. Women were allowed to take two powerful abortion pills at home, provided they were under 10 weeks pregnant. That policy has develop into everlasting.
In recent months, chances are you’ll well have picked up on media reports highlighting difficult cases and instances where women have faced prosecution and investigation for various offences in relation to abortion law. For example, Carla Foster was initially sent to prison for procuring a house abortion after the ten week limit. Her sentence was reduced subsequently on appeal, allowing her to return home.
These cases have prompted campaigners to re-issue calls for abortion to be ‘decriminalised’. They argue that no woman should face prosecution, and even the prospect of prosecution for getting what they see as purely a medical procedure.
Calls for abortion to be decriminalised have been backed by various official medical bodies and in fact by abortion providers as well.
If all this sounds reasonable to you, it’s price stopping and considering this in additional detail.
Some of those cases were the police investigating women who had experienced miscarriages. The cases must have been handled sensitively and quickly.
Others of those cases have arisen because the pills-by-post scheme where women have been sent abortion pills with out a gestation check. Abortion providers needs to be required to see a lady in person before prescribing abortion pills.
Furthermore, the UK already has some of the liberal abortion laws on the earth. Our 24-week cut-off date is twice the European average of 12 weeks. It can also be past the purpose of known viability, with babies born at 22 weeks surviving outside the womb. The overall variety of abortions has simply increased and increased and the most recent data shows that between January and June 2022, greater than 120,000 abortions took place in England and Wales. This is up 17 per cent on the identical period the previous yr.
The current law still sends a message, nevertheless limited, that sooner or later, a preborn baby’s life is worthy of protection. At the moment, that time is 24 weeks in most instances.
I feel that could be a message the law must send. This just isn’t about wanting lots and numerous women to be criminalised. But it’s about being honest to say that abortion just isn’t simply one other medical procedure.
An abortion involves two lives. And the Christian worldview doesn’t distinguish between these lives by way of dignity and value. We reject personhood theory, which creates an arbitrary point at which a ‘fetus’ becomes an individual and due to this fact worthy of protection.
Instead, we have fun the indisputable fact that life begins at conception. We rejoice that when human life begins, an individual comes into being. We wish to protect that person and protect the lifetime of the Mum as well.
I do know evangelical Christians are sometimes accused of only contacting their MP about issues like abortion or conversion practices. I might encourage you, strongly, to put in writing about a variety of justice issues, from immigration, to cost of living, to gambling related harms. I do appreciate the burden of this concern. As Christians, we must always be clever in how we engage.
And yet, surely we even have a Christian duty to talk out on topics and causes where only a few others are engaging? Is this not a part of speaking God’s higher story to a broken world? Is this not also a part of our God-given responsibility? With a graciously and clever tone, I urge you then to contact your MP and ask them, if there may be a vote, to reject the abortion amendment that might see our laws further liberalised.
James Mildred is Director of Communications and Engagement at CARE. You can contact your MP concerning the issue raised in this text via CARE’s website.
