Pro-life group Right To Life UK has welcomed the federal government’s decision to finish the two-child cap on advantages, arguing that the move should result in a discount within the variety of abortions being carried out.
An evaluation of official abortion statistics by the group suggests that the advantages cap could have caused more abortions than would otherwise have happened, as women struggled with the associated fee of getting more children.
The cap was first introduced by the Conservative government in 2017 as a cost-saving measure. Between 2016 and 2021 the variety of abortions involving women who had already had two or more births (including stillbirths) rose by 1 / 4 in England and Wales. By contrast the variety of abortions involving women who had one or no births previously increased by 10 per cent.
Numerous church leaders and charities have suggested that the policy has increased the number of kids in poverty. The Labour government, which removed the cap in its Budget this week, said it believes 450,000 children will probably be lifted out of poverty by eliminating the cap.
Further evidence is available in the shape of a survey by abortion provider BPAS, which spoke to 240 women with two or more children who had an abortion between March and November 2020.
Half of the ladies said they were aware of the two-child profit cap before having their abortion, and 57 per cent of those that were receiving tax credits or universal credit said that the policy was “vital of their decision-making around whether or to not proceed the pregnancy”.
Many of the ladies spoken to openly admitted that that they had undergone with an abortion for financial reasons.
One said, “I did something I never imagined I’d ever do … But in the back of my mind all I kept considering is how would I actually have managed financially … I had to do that.”
Alisdair Hungerford-Morgan, Chief Executive Officer for Right To Life UK, said the tip of the two-child profit cap was “a major step in the best direction when it comes to improving support for pregnant women”.
“When women discover they’re pregnant, they must be met with the sensible help and support they should proceed their pregnancy, not told that they are going to receive less financial support for his or her next child than for his or her previous children,” he said.
The end of the cap has also been welcomed by Christians Against Poverty, with CEO Stewart McCulloch saying that more must be done to tackle the scourge of poverty.
“Ending the two-child limit is an investment within the nation’s future residents, workforce and well-being. It is a recognition that you simply cannot construct a robust country or economy on the shaky foundations of kid poverty,” he said.
“This decision gives parents the respiration space they should concentrate on parenting, fairly than panicking concerning the next bill.”
He added, “However, there are still significant gaps in moves towards proper welfare reform that will guarantee households have a basic level of income to have the opportunity to afford probably the most basic essentials.”
 Pro-life group Right To Life UK has welcomed the federal government’s decision to finish the two-child cap on advantages, arguing that the move...){kind=link}